


The Warrior's Gambit

by FrostedGemstones22



Series: A Delicate Subterfuge [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Selection Series - Kiera Cass
Genre: A darker take, Competition, F/M, Kya lives, Lu Ten lives, Political Subplots, Slow Burn, Stubborn Katara, Zuko is S3 Zuko, Zuko is so in love with katara, hidden avatar, like no really a super slow burn, things just got serious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2019-07-06 19:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 91,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15892233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostedGemstones22/pseuds/FrostedGemstones22
Summary: Months ago, Katara arrived at the Royal Palace to save her tribe and to win the heart of the famed Prince Zuko at any cost. She thought THAT was going to be difficult, but after startling romantic revelations, an attack on the Royal Family, a hidden Avatar, and a nefarious rebel group in the shadows, she might be in over her head. The Prince's Choice sequel. The Selection!Zutara AU





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> HEY YOU ALL! WELCOME TO BOOK TWO!
> 
> This is just a shooooort little Prologue to get you all settled in, so enjoy ;)
> 
> If you're finding this when it's posted, this will likely make ZERO sense, so I implore you to go check out it's predecessor 'The Prince's Choice'. This is a Selection!AU, but it's become so much bigger than JUST that! I'd say it's for sure worth a read!

_Date: Night of the Palace Attack_

_Location: Deep in the Swamps of the Earth Kingdom_

The windchimes tinkled lightly, and then a gust of wind swept them around with a gale-wind force. The trees around the windchimes, however, were still.

Below the deck of the shanty house, a Fire Nation girl sat with a basket held against her hip, one hand facing out toward the windchimes. She was grinning widely and flexed her fingers again, sending a second breeze through the windchimes.

She'd never tire of their sounds.

"Dhakiya, have you fed Appa yet?" Her father called from inside the house. "I can hear him complaining all the way from in here."

"Not yet, dad," Dhakiya sighed, pushing her fingers through her hair, wishing that the swamps didn't have to be quite so humid. She was used to heat, coming from the Fire Nation. The heat combined with the wetness here? It was a little overwhelming, but she'd gotten used to it. She pressed a sticky strand of hair behind her ear, fanning herself.

It was stupid to be using her airbending skills for something so trivial, but it was in moments like this she was glad for her abilities.

She tilted her head and, over the ringing of the fire bugs and the swamp creatures, she did indeed hear Appa moaning for his dinner.

She hastened through the vines to his stable, where he was dramatically laying on his back with his many legs splayed out, his tongue lolling as he made low keening sounds. When he saw Dhakiya approaching, he stopped for a second before resuming his moaning in a more dramatic way.

"Appa, you big lout," Dhakiya said, rubbing his nose. "You're acting like you're withering away! It's only half an hour past when we usually feed you. And, if you really wanted to eat, there are vines right there."

Appa rolled over, glaring at Dhakiya for even suggesting such a meal.

"I know, too slimy," she said, flopping the basket of straw and fruit in front of him. "I'm just saying."

Appa nudged her with his head affectionately, but since he was so large, Dhaikya lost her balance and stumbled into the marshes behind his hut. She spat out river water, picking a leech from her skin.

She got up, drying herself off with a gust of wind. She saw Appa looking at her with a sense of longing. Until she met him, she'd never met an animal that could emote eloquently.

"I know, bud, I know," Dhakiya said, feeling a little bad for airbending in front of him. "You miss Kuzon, er, Aang."

She'd never officially met Aang, only seen him at dinners or in the palace halls. Zuko had never attempted to introduce her, and she wondered now if that was intentional? However, she'd never given him much thought, in fact, nearly none at all...until the night she'd left. Zuko had explained everything on their last date, in hushed and frantic whispers and he told her how she was going to stay alive. Finding out that the kid who had hung around Prince Zuko was not his cousin-third-removed or whatever lie they had spun, but was instead the Avatar had been a shock of a lifetime, only second to the shock of her own powers manifesting. She hadn't been used to calling him by his real name and still slipped up in front of Appa.

Appa had taken to Dhakiya instantly when she arrived at the swamp; she figured he could sense her airbending genetics. But that didn't mean that he didn't terribly miss his original owner. At this point, it had been years since they'd seen each other. Appa was miserable without Aang, but what could they do?

"I'll be back tomorrow with a huge plate of fruit for breakfast, how's that? And, maybe we can take a ride?" she offered.

Appa's eyes glimmered at her suggestion, and he responded by licking her face. Dhakiya shrieked, but she was laughing.

She had found herself quite taken with Appa soon after her arrival, months ago. She was well aware that he wasn't her Air Bison, but Air Bison weren't around anymore, so despite them being a hallmark of an airbender, she would likely never get her own. She was aware that one day, she'd have to give Appa back to Aang.

Dhakiya knew this. Didn't mean it didn't hurt, just a little.

She hugged Appa's snout one last time before bidding him goodnight and leaving his stable.

Outside, she worked to shuck the Air Bison saliva from her skin before returning inside.

Her father stood over their tiny kitchen - a dinky and worn set that would be more likely to set their hut on fire than cook anything good – as he prepared dinner. The catagator they'd caught was roasting in a pan, spitting oil everywhere.

"Hey, hon," he greeted, going over and kissing her forehead. "I just got news. I have to leave again tomorrow."

Dhakiya tried not to let her utter disappointment show and forced a large smile on her face.

"That's okay, dad. I'm perfectly capable out here," she assured. "I'm sure mom misses you."

Ever since Prince Zuko had smuggled her out of the Palace and officially released her from the competition, she'd been living out here in the Foggy Swamp. Her father came whenever he could, with food and supplies and letters from her twin sister, Alcina, but he had to go home to keep up appearances every so often. Dhakiya hadn't been out of the Swamp in months, but she'd grown used to it.

It was worth it to keep herself safe; so far, besides Aang, she was one of the only airbenders around. She knew that if Ozai found her...she shuddered at the very thought. Suffice to say, it wouldn't go well.

Dhakiya opened the cupboard that held her food. "When you come back, bring Fire Flakes. We're nearly out," she said, shaking the can. Most of the food she ate was taken right from the Swamp, and thus a wide variety of spices were necessary to make it palatable. Only the fruit was sweet and flavorful, but that could be found few and far between. She knew that it was the Airbender way to only eat veggies, but she just couldn't support that lifestyle out here, not now.

And even when things were good, could she really go there? Yes, she was an airbender...now. However, she'd grown up as a Fire Nationer, as – she had thought - a late blooming firebender. She was more firebender than airbender in her temperament, so which way to go?

Luckily, these were questions that she didn't have to consider for a very long time.

Her father flicked his fingers, producing a flame to purify the water for their meal. Dhakiya continued going through the pantry, taking some parchment from his bag and making a list - encoded - of what to bring back for her.

Realizing she was an airbender and fleeing the Royal Family, sans Zuko, of course, who was helping her father hide her, had been a tumultuous chain of events. The Dhaikya who resided in the swamp, keeping Appa safe, was wholly a different person than she even was three months ago. The Dhakiya who had entered the Prince's Choice was the quieter of the twins, the softer one. She had only ever worn nice clothes and couldn't remember the last time she was barefoot. She had only eaten things that other people prepared for her, and the thought of any confrontation had her quaking before it happened.

The Dhakiya now nearly never wore shoes and had developed a nice hardened layer protecting her feet. She had scratches and scars all over her body, from learning how to survive the hard way. The Dhakiya now had killed that catagator herself and was wholly self-sufficient when her father left. The longest she had gone without seeing another person was two weeks. The Swamp Benders came by when they could; they'd shown her the ropes of living in this difficult environment. She knew how to make a trap, how to sharpen sticks into weapons, how to lose any enemy - animal or human - in the deep vines, and which plants would kill her in seconds.

The Dhakiya who existed now was someone who had only existed in stories before. She was a person she was proud to be now, a person who she was sure could take whatever life threw her way. She wouldn't go back to the old Dhakiya for anything, even if it meant being unable to marry the prince or having to sleep under a net to keep the mosquitoes out.

One day, when this was all over, she might thank Prince Zuko, she often mused.

She ate dinner with her father quickly, as he would need to get to bed early for the journey out of the Swamp and back to the Fire Nation tomorrow. As her father began to clear the plates, Dhakiya jumped up.

"No, dad, you get to bed. I'll finish these."

"Sweetie, it's fine. I can," her father insisted. "I'm the one leaving, I should do it."

"Nope!" Dhakiya argued back with a soft smile. "Do you want to know what's on my schedule tomorrow? Make another basket of vines, maybe try to catch a possum-chicken to-"

A blinding pain rocketed through her whole body, causing her to drop the plates. They clattered onto the wooden ground as Dhakiya clutched her head, falling to her knees. Outside, Appa began to emit a low moan, and all the screeching birds in the trees flew up at once, as though there'd been a grand disturbance all across the swamp.

Faintly, she heard her father calling her name, grabbing her arms. Dhakiya shook, gasping for breath as she slumped against the wall, unable to talk.

She'd felt this one time before - this pain, this searing, this change within her body.

_She'd been 13 years old. It had been a day like any other day. Alcina and Dhakiya were at their bending practice and Alcina, of course, was so much ahead in her training. Dhakiya had never even gotten a rotten puff of steam and was losing hope fast that she'd ever firebend. She was, in all, feeling pretty crappy about her self-worth. Alcina, seeing her doubt, had tried to pass off he own firebending as weaker than it was, but had been yelled at by their master._

_She remembered that Alcina had taken her to a lake outside their village, and the pair floated in the cool water, watching the clouds pass by._

_"You'll get there. Dad didn't firebend 'till he was 12," Alcina had tried to comfort her._

_"Yeah, but I'm nearly 14," Dhakiya said sourly. "I don't think it's ever gunna happen."_

_"The fortune teller has never been wrong!" Alcina screwed her face up. "And there hasn't been a non-bender in our family in generations!"_

_"Is that meant to make me feel better?" Dhakiya turned on her stomach to swim away from her sister._

_"No – arg – I didn't mean it like that! Look-"_

_Whatever her sister was going to say was cut off, as Dhakiya was suddenly gripped by a pain so intense she thought she might pass out. Her limbs felt heavy and her head pounded. Before she knew it, she was sinking deep into the water, her sister frantically screaming her name._

_When Dhakiya woke up, she was at home. Alcina was sitting next to her, sobbing. She'd nearly died, Alcina had said._

_According to the physician, there was nothing wrong with her that could have caused such pain. There was no reason to why she lost her breath, why she couldn't move her legs, or where the headache had come from._

_Dhakiya didn't believe that, though, because she felt different. She couldn't put it into words, but something about her had changed._

_It wasn't until two days later, when her mother deemed her well enough to get out of bed, that she figured it out, when she got into a fight with Alcina, threw her arms toward the door, and closed it with a gust of wind._

_She was an airbender now._

At the time, she'd thought that her near-death experience had triggered it. In fact, up until this very moment, that's what she'd assumed. Her parents had leapt into action, realizing how dangerous it was to have an airbender in their family, a race thought to be extinct. They were under no illusion that the Fire Nation had likely had a hand in the extinction of the Air Nomads, even if they had simply not offered help when the illness swept through. Dhakiya, feeling a little wiser, had a feeling it was much more than that.

Whatever the case, she was told to keep up the firebending classes, so no one would have a reason to point her out. As they grew up, Alcina became even bolder, and Dhakiya was always her shadow. Her whole family transformed to make sure that no one would ever find out Dhakiya's secret. Until she told Prince Zuko, when she deemed him to be a man of good morals, and if she were to continue couldn't imagine keeping this from him. And, not long after, Zuko had explained to her that if she vauled her life, she needed to leave. She had been so excited to get her picture drawn with him, so excited when he asked her to stay after, and that was all shattered. In that moment, she recalled that she had wanted to just lay down and sob. It had all felt so unfair. She had wanted to marry Zuko, had wanted to be  _normal_.

But that was in the past. She had thought that the pain had been something strange: a food past its date, a sudden cramp, a bug that had bitten her wrong.

In this moment, she knew that all to be false.

As her vision wavered back into view, she looked up at her dad. She was panting hard, the ripples of this event still echoing in her limbs, in her heart that thumped as fast as a jackrabbit.

Before saying anything, she raised her fingers, creating a gust of wind. She let out a sigh of utter relief; if something like that pain could once gave her powers, she had worried that it could take her bending away, too.

Huu burst into their hut. "Y'all okay?" he asked, his spear raised carefully.

"What in the world is going on? Are we under attack?" her father sputtered, looking out of the window as he helped Dhakiya to her cot.

"No, it was a spiritual change. It was a tremor that the entire tree system felt." Huu looked halfway between scared and ecstatic about this. "I only felt this once before...years ago."

"Nearly five years ago, right?" Dhakiya asked, finding her voice. Huu lowered his spear. He scratched his head.

"How'd ya figure that out?" he asked.

"Because I felt it too five years ago," she said, swinging her feet over the side of her bed, hunching her shoulders and groaning.

"Well." Her father paused his fussing with his daughter, considering what Huu said. "If it was spiritual...then...where did it come from?"

"Somewhere deep in the spirit world. It was angry, ya'll," Huu confirmed, rubbing his chin. "I pity wherever it came from."

"Do you think it's the Avatar?" her father asked in a hushed tone. Dhakiya grabbed the pot of sanitized water, drinking it straight from the tin as she rubbed the back of her neck. She could hear Huu and her father theorizing in front of her.

"It for sure is," Dhakiya broke in, "I just know. And I know something else, too."

Her father and Huu turned to her, looking at her expectantly.

"Dad, get ready to send more people here. The Spirit World was accessed, opened, just for a second. And you know what it did the last time? Made me an airbender," she said firmly, meeting her dad's soft light brown eyes. "So take a wild guess what it's going to do this time?"

Understanding dawned on her father. "Make more airbenders," he said. Dhakiya, despite feeling a little woozy still, got up and started examining the space critically, knowing that her day - and the days to follow - were about to get a lot busier.

"Exactly. A whole lot of people are about to be in a lot of danger."


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are BACK y'all! I hope you all had a great 2 months :) I'm so excited to return to posting this, though. Awesome things are coming your way..

Out of all of the issues flitting around in Prince Zuko's mind - and, there were several, some very pressing and of great concern - there was one that managed to wriggle its way to the forefront just about every second he let his mind wander.

An itch he could not scratch.

A ringing in his subconscious that never faltered.

A metaphorical fly that could not be swatted away.

_Katara._

What to do with a girl like Katara?

 _Marry her, but she said no,_  his inner voice would remind him.

 _She said no...for now,_  he would reply to his own devil's advocate. But a part of Zuko always knew she'd say no. She wouldn't have been Katara if she hadn't. He had faith that one day, she'd say yes, but it had sprung up out of nearly nowhere to ask her this time. In his wildest dreams, the competition would be over by now and he'd be preparing for his wedding, something he had previously been less than enthusiastic about. Katara made him want it all; a large ceremony, a quiet life, children...

He would have been thrilled, obviously, if she had said yes, but he may have been concerned for her safety.

Zuko knew the dangers of the palace, and he knew them well; that much was not something he felt right to argue with her about. He would, however, rebuff her crazy idea that the safest place wasn't at his side as the Fire Lady, a woman who held the near entirety of the world in her palm. He was sure that if he ascended to the throne with Katara at his side, he already would have won half the battle. He could sway the council, expose his father...make sure he could never hurt her.

But, Katara persisted.

 _Marry someone else_. He recalled what she'd urged him with a mildly uncomfortable rock forming in the bottom of his stomach. His chest had dropped when he'd heard that.

Maybe it would have been smart.

Maybe...but lately, Zuko found his common sense being chipped away at an alarming rate.

He filed through the remaining girls in his mind as though he was looking through a folio, considering and weighing each girl very carefully, as he'd been doing for the last few days. Examining them. Scrutinizing them. Trying to imaging marrying one within a week, if things went really south.

Not long ago, Toph strangely would have been his first choice, if he were so pushed against a wall. Not because he held any romantic affections for the girl, but because he did not. He was absolutely sure that they could work out an agreement to benefit everyone. Toph would not have to return to her shitty family, and she would not have cared if Zuko continued to see Katara. He could convince Katara to stay on as a representative in some capacity, and as the years grew on, at least he knew he'd always have a friend in his wife. Sure, the idea of producing an heir with her wasn't the most appealing, but he'd do it to hold onto Katara. This idea, of course, hinged on Katara also being okay with this. As it was, that idea was no longer viable, because he doubted he could get Toph on board anymore. So.

Mai was the girl that many Fire Nation officials were rooting for. She had the poise and grace that they thought a Fire Lady should possess. Zuko wasn't thrilled with the idea of marrying her, at least, not as their relationship was now. A small part wondered if he managed to get Mai alone again, if she'd become more like the friend in his childhood years. She'd never been overly chatty, looking back, but she had been a companion.

Yue was soft-spoken and just as poised as Mai, but much nicer. If he considered his future children in the mix (which he had to), Yue was a more appealing choice. They sometimes had awkward moments of silence, but he figured that could be fixed with time.

Suki was also on his list of people he could see himself marrying, at least, in another life in which Katara had never come to participate in the Choice. A lot of what he liked about Suki was what he liked about Katara - her strong will, her sparring abilities, her political interest - so he worried if he married her, it would always be a competition between her and a girl that he couldn't have chosen if he wanted to-Katara. All things came back to her.

It was all rubbish anyway, every girl he considered just felt so lifeless next to Katara. Katara and her waterbending. Katara and her inquisitive eyes, which held the ocean. Katara and her warm, earth-toned skin. Katara and-

"Zuko." His father's velvet voice purred over the table. "Would you kindly come back to join us?"

Zuko lifted his chin from where it rested on his fingers. Had his Uncle called him out, he would have apologized for his absent mindedness. However, since it was his father, Zuko would not give him such satisfaction.

"I haven't left, father," Zuko said shortly. "We were discussing the reparations to the Hall of Histories, were we not?" he countered. He'd learned since he was a very young boy that not listening could sink him deep into trouble, so as much as one part of Zuko's mind whirled around the Southern Water Tribe girl he was besotted with, the other part listened and digested whenever his father opened his lips.

"Just checking." Ozai raised an eyebrow.

"A future Fire Lord shouldn't need to be 'checked'," Azula threw in. "What could be more important than these meetings, Zuko?"

If they were children, say even the ages of fourteen and twelve, Zuko would have heard a teasing tone in her voice, and he would have replied back that Azula had no to right to tease him, when she was burning her notes at the edges or ripping tiny holes in her stockings in boredom, too.

But they were not children, and there was only malice in her tone.

"Now is hardly the time to be attempting to undermine your brother, little cousin," Lu Ten said, a warning in his tone. "Isn't there enough upheaval without so you so gaudily attempting to steal what your brother has? You are like a child, taking Zuko's toys just because it so displeases you to not have something also."

"The Throne is not a toy! We've all accepted that things are changing after the attack, so why not a change in the lineup for the ruler, as well? It's been done once before," Azula added, staring down Lu Ten with a wicked smile.

"So it is not just to do it again." Uncle Iroh frowned. "Azula, your comments have been noted but have grown tiresome on all of our ears."

"Let them," Azula barked out. "He is hardly acting as a prince, did you see the way he was kissing Lady Katara-"

" _Princess_ Katara. As is his right," Ozai broke in, but Zuko wouldn't say his father was on his side. He wasn't sure that he was on Azula's side though, or else she would have been given the throne months ago. Ozai was on no one's side but his own. "It is his prerogative, may I remind you – daughter - that Zuko may kiss whomever he pleases, if they are in the Prince's Choice."

Azula was not dumb. Whenever Ozai stepped in, she would shut up. Also, as there were only immediate family members sitting at the table, there were not many minds to enchant with her poisonous words. Her family had heard them all, and most of them could spin words as skillfully as she, so they knew her silver tricks. Zuko had never had that skill, but he trumped her in just about everything else, he liked to think. Maybe not firebending, either, but that was a work in progress.

Zuko shot an appreciative glance toward his cousin and uncle. He was especially glad that there were no hard feelings about the fact that their lineage's birthright had been removed. As it was, Zuko did not care much for the throne. It may have sounded awful to say, but he thought that Lu Ten would have made a fair and just Fire Lord. He was absolutely sure, with every fiber of his being, that Uncle Iroh would have been a better Fire Lord than his father. Had the hands of fate swung the other way, Zuko could not have been upset.

But that was not so. Zuko was the heir apparent and this left him, more times than not, very much alone in the world.

He was thrown back to an event, years ago, but a moment that has never left him.

He recalled being young, hardly thirteen, and Azulon was beckoning him to his bedside with a spindly and wrinkled finger. He'd swallowed down his terror at being called to face his very imposing grandfather alone, and bravely approached the bed, his shoulders squared.

At the time, his grandfather had been gravely ill. The Fire Sages had warned the family that he could go any day, so Zuko was told very firmly not to do anything to upset his grandfather. He'd gotten a murderous look from his father when Zuko has responded, "Do anything to upset him? He's likely going to upset me!' Azulon did end up biting the bullet, a whole year later, but remained in a state of perpetual sickness up until the end of his days. Zuko thought this was only fair.

He recalled the smell of something smoldering, something burning. Azulon always smelled like that, and not a pleasant fire smell, but a noxious one. When Azulon had grasped Zuko's wrist with a startling strength, Zuko had nearly cried out.

Azulon pulled Zuko down to his lips, his breath coming out in rasps and his whole body quaking with sickness.

" _All living things die alone_ ," he'd said, forcing the words from his lips,  _"_ _And so shall you."_

Then, he released Zuko just as suddenly as he'd grabbed him and turned over. Zuko had stumbled out of the bedroom and into the gardens, where he'd heaved his stomach, but only brought up bile.

Something about his words had been so prophetic, so startling. The words of a very ill elder shouldn't have shaken him so much, but truth be told...it did. It was the certainty with which Azulon had said it, the near smugness in his voice. The way he'd said it would never leave Zuko.

Even at that age, there had been discussion of Zuko ascending to the throne instead of Lu Ten. Zuko, at that point, had thought his father's plight near impossible. It was in the moment that Azulon told Zuko this, and no one else, that Zuko knew deep down one day he would rule. It felt like his grandfather's words went without saying, but that promise weighed heavier on Fire Lords than anyone else.

_And so shall you._

_And so shall you._

_And so shall you_.

A part of Zuko had prepared himself for this, for this loneliness, for this gripping coldness. Azulon had died in his sleep with not another soul around. And, even if someone had been in the room, he was so estranged from any other person that he would have died alone anyway, dying alone in the spirit of the sense. Azulon -better than anyone - would know this truth.

Then, he'd met Katara. For a wild, fledgling second, he'd thought that the few and final words his grandfather had ever spoken to him would never come to pass.

Still, now, he wasn't so sure.

He knew that as an adult - as the future Fire Lord - he should not let such things bother him in the present. He had the ability to forge his own destiny, and further than that, he had the ability to ask anything of his people. It would be for naught if he forced their love, and he wanted to be a better Fire Lord than his three predecessors - though he was sure his father would tell him his plans would make him worse, would make him weak.

Frankly, Zuko did not want to be the Fire Lord if it meant ruling through tyranny and fearmongering. And, since he was about to inherit the throne all too soon, he was in a position to be deciding such things.

Zuko turned his focus back to the meeting. Uncle Iroh was going on about the crown molding in the Hall of Histories and arguing that maybe some mirrors would be a nice addition, and Ozai was waving his hand in a firm dismission. It was nothing exciting (this whole meeting hadn't been 'exciting') but Zuko was semi-glad he didn't need to focus on it, anyway.

The door opened and Aang appeared, itching the fingerless gloves that covered his arrows. While the rumors had been spread to the public, through no effort of the Royal Palace, that Aang was covered in horrid burns, Zuko's family believed otherwise. He'd managed to convince his father that the sect that Aang, er, Kuzon had grown up with had been very religious and very covered, and it would offend the old gods to show an abundance of skin. He'd been able to find an old Fire God somewhere that had believed the sweat built up from uncomfortably heavy clothes was spiritual and it was apparently enough.

It, so far, seemed to work. Kuzon didn't go out of his way to have times in which Ozai would see him other than required attendance.

"Great Uncle." Aang bowed respectfully in Ozai's direction. Zuko could see the way that Aang's jaw clenched, how he forced the words out with some difficulty. Aang had been unsettled since the discovery in the caverns, to say the least.

"Kuzon, I take it that classes have concluded for the day?"

"Yes, sir." Aang sat next to Lu Ten, where he was instructed to sit during family meetings. His presence had grown over time. At first, Ozai hardly took note of him. But, slowly, as his stay in the palace had extended, his participation began to be more of a regular occurrence, because let it never be said that the Royal family did not honor the covenant of blood.

"How is your training going?"

"Fine," Aang answered stiffly. After the attack on the palace, Ozai had insisted that Aang start taking part in military training. Zuko found it hard to disagree, especially since Aang could only whip out his firebending in a pinch. Having other skills would be most valuable.

They'd tried to keep Aang out of the military as long as possible. Having him in a situation in which he would have to train shirtless was obviously a problem, not to mention that Aang was a pacifist by upbringing.

Zuko could not budge his father on this decision, however. Aang was funneled into the sessions. Iroh had noticed Aang's unease and convinced the Junior Captain to allow Aang to remain covered, as long as it did not hinder Aang's learning. So far, so good. However, that didn't mean it wasn't difficult for Aang to acclimate to this lifestyle. The military was structured and taught with an iron fist. It had adopted an 'eat or be eaten' mentality that related not only to training, but how they should approach undesirables in the field. Ozai was the one to thank for that, Zuko thought with frustration.

It was what Ozai did when backed into a wall: respond with war and violence. It was all he'd ever known. He was hailed as the one who revamped the entire military structure as Zuko was doing with the trade routes. He knew the military better than any living man.

It had made the Fire Nation an impenetrable nation, until the Equalists. In response, Ozai was just throwing more violence at the problem. While Zuko highly doubted that if they threw daisies and banjos at the Equalists they'd surrender, his father was taking things to maniacal levels by demanding every son over the age of 12 should go into the military training.

"Oh, Kuzon is too humble," Iroh said at Ozai's less-than-pleased face. "He is a rare find. He already shows restraint when needed, but is able to hold his own swimmingly."

Aang blushed at the praise, however he still looked upset. Zuko knew that Aang would hate to be known by a military status one day, if the whole affair with his true identity lasted longer than anyone expected.

"I'm glad to hear that. I cannot afford in another attack for you to be undefended, Kuzon. While Guardsman Shoji has shown great initiative, we must always expect the worse," Ozai said. "I am pleased you are here for the last bit of the meeting, nephew."

"Oh?" Aang asked, shooting a nervous look to Zuko, but Zuko had no idea why Ozai would want Aang around.

"We have a matter of grave importance to discuss, for the moment family and need-to-know only, and I wish not to repeat my suspicions…" He paused for a second. "I believe the Avatar has returned."

Zuko choked on his own breath, managing a strangled, "But it's been 104 years, Father." He covered his horror with faux disbelief.

"I know, quite a time for the spirits to be quiet." Ozai was stroking his beard. "And I hadn't thought it possible until very recently."

"It is not possible," Uncle Iroh insisted firmly. "Whatever you have heard-"

"It's not what I've heard, through the whispers through the palace are suffocating," Ozai cut him off. "It's what I've seen. The day of the attack, the idols of the past Avatars lit up with a brilliance that cannot be explained away. We all must assume that the Avatar is the number one enemy of the Fire Nation and is working with the Equalists to disassemble us as we know."

There was a stunned silence. Zuko scrutinized his father carefully, trying not to let his internal thoughts show on his face. He'd assumed his father was puppeting the Equalists. Was he still, and this was his way of creating an excuse to kill the Avatar if he found him? Or, were his father's thoughts genuine, and he had nothing to do with the Equalists?

The sureness in his father's voice made him actually think the latter, which would do him no good to have his suspicions back to square one. He decided his father was a master manipulator and he should equally be prepared to believe either one of the two options.

Belatedly, he thought of Aang. He resisted the urge to swing his head to his friend too sharply, but instead looked at Lu Ten and Aang as if to ask ' _do we believe this?'_ Aang's face was as white as a sheet, and Zuko wasn't sure he was breathing. He seemed frozen in the spot, until Zuko caught his eye.

Aang slowly morphed his face into one of half-concern, half-interest. Zuko had spent years with Aang practicing his poker face and today - more than ever - it was a necessary mask.

"Okay, so…" Lu Ten licked his lips nervously, frowning. "104 years? That's what, three generations? So, it's back to a Firebender now?"

Sweat beaded on Aang's head. It seemed if Ozai believed this, and it was a fair assessment, then Aang was still in the danger zone, since his cover was as a firebender.

"Actually, I have reason to believe it's still the same airbender." Ozai leaned back on his grand chair, pressing all his finger together at the tips, a rather pensive look gathering on his face. "And if that's true, then this Avatar is a master already and our most important mission."

"There are no more airbenders, Father," Zuko attempted to scoff out. "They all died a long time ago."

"So I thought too, but I have gotten rather disturbing reports that their kind are popping up, one here, one there." Ozai waved his hands to indicate 'here and there'. "And we can only assume that any airbender is going to side with their leader, or have information about where we can find him or her."

"You can't be serious!" Lu Ten argued. "Implicating an entire race to the same crimes, the crimes you claim?"

"Son," Iroh whispered sternly, "Be cautious of what you say next."

"I knew you'd see the logic, my brother," Ozai said, nodding.

"Logic? You misspeak,  _brother_." Iroh's face was furious. "You are speaking of blind hate and fear."

"Father fears nothing!" Azula snarled. "How dare you insinuate-"

"Azula, please," Ozai said softly, and she sat back, frowning and glaring down her Uncle. "I do fear for the safety of my family. These airbenders are dangerous, make no mistake."

"What?" Aang finally spoke up. "They're peaceful people! Pacifists, if I recall my history correctly," Aang added on as casually as Zuko would have.

"The old Air Nomads, perhaps. These are Air Nomads born of years of feeling repressed, feeling anger for a sickness that nature deigned them to have. They are not like what we remember."

Zuko had to grip the handles of his chair so he didn't spring up at the way his father pretended that nature had anything to do with the massacre of the airbenders.

Or, perhaps he truly did not know.

There was a lot he was questioning of his father lately.

Either way, Zuko was disgusted at what his father was suggesting. It sounded too good, it almost sounded reasonable. Ozai was able to twist his words all too easily, and Zuko could see how the average lay person would just feed right into the picture of terror and suspicion his father painted.

"So what do you say we do with these airbenders?" Azula asked, a malicious glint sparkling in her eyes.

"We treat any airbender found as a traitor, first off." Ozai had had time to think of this. He answered without hesitation. "We question them and if they refuse to comply, we dispose of them. They'll be useless to us anyway, and we cannot risk them escaping a prison."

"We could send them to the Boiling Rock," Zuko pressed his father. "That place is secure!"

"Zuko, you don't to be painted as an airbender sympathizer, do you? As an Equalizer sympathizer?" Ozai asked, eyes wide in faux horror.

"Asking for mercy is not the same thing." Iroh was staring at Ozai like he never really saw his brother before now. Maybe he had always clung to some desperate hope he would mend his ways or be a better person than they expected.

"And risk them poisoning the minds of other inmates? Of escaping? Of letting their cancerous ways grow like fungus? I think most would agree with me there is only one way to deal with their kind," Ozai said, throwing the blame off of himself, as he always did. Zuko knew he could bend the council to his will to make this whole thing seem like the people's wish and not his own.

"I have decided this matter must be handled with utmost care. I have called in an old friend and a formidable ally to spearhead this movement." Ozai looked to the side, waving a hand to a guard. The pair opened the grand doors to the war council room, and a man waltzed in, his military boots making sharp clacks on the floor and his medals of honor and accomplishment tinkling against the polished metal of his uniform.

"Captain Zhao. I would say I was surprised, but there are few as...determined as you," Uncle Iroh said, eyes narrowing with clear displeasure. Zuko locked his jaw. On the few occasions he'd met Zhao, he'd disliked him instantly. His uncle's attitude toward the man did not encourage him to budge such sentiments.

"General Iroh, haven't you heard? It's Commander Zhao now." Zhao set his helmet on the table, bowing deeply to Ozai.

"I had not, considering all military rank changes go through me, do they not, brother?" Iroh raised an eyebrow to Ozai.

"Yes, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I officiated it. I thought I'd save you some paperwork," Ozai dismissed it simply.

"Thank you," Iroh replied, but Zuko had a feeling his uncle was feeling anything but thankful. He watched the sizzling tension between his father and his uncle for a hard moment before Iroh blinked, breaking it. Zuko wondered, if the paperwork had come across Iroh's desk, if maybe he would have denied it.

"I'd hardly say these are desperate times," Lu Ten said, speaking when his father would not.

"I disagree, young Prince," Zhao crooned, turning to Lu Ten, his tone belittling despite the fact that he was only a handful of years older than Lu Ten; ten, if Zuko recalled correctly. "Wouldn't you say that any assault on the Fire Nation and its Lord calls for a state of emergency?"

Lu Ten licked his lips, but stayed quiet. However, his eyes remained narrowed with heavy suspicion.

"Commander Zhao, what are your plans to deal with these rebels?" Azula asked, leaning forward with a glee that sickened Zuko.

"Well, we take any whisper of an appearance much more seriously. Now that I am a Commander, there will be a task force of guards who will follow me to wherever we hear of an airbender showing up. No corner of the globe is too far to eradicate the vermin they are." Zhao took a seat at the table, which usually would be considered an affront on the most dire levels, but Ozai didn't seem to mind. "We take the ones that seem to know anything. We stop at nothing to learn what knowledge they possess, and then we finish what the plagues failed to do 100 years ago."

"You're still talking about the eradication of a whole group of people," Lu Ten whispered quietly, shaking his head.

"A war always has casualties. However, think of it as...a generosity I'm giving them." Zhao titled his head. "If we allowed them to live, no doubt there would be assassination attempts on their lives for endangering the throne. We will do it humanly."

Zuko bit back the question of how killing anyone could be considered doing something 'humanly'? And, further, did they think the plague was a softer way to go? Did they know the horrors of what the 'plague' had done to the airbenders years ago?

Suddenly, Zuko felt an even stronger urge to dispose of the journal in his trunk. He itched to go find it now and make sure that it never fell into the hands of Zhao or the likes of him.

"In all, the plan is simple, truly." Zhao was still talking. "But no doubt will it still be difficult on many levels. Lord Ozai has already agreed to allow me to take some of the training guards for my platoon, to teach them in the field, which is much more to truth than training against dummies or stick figures. Master Kuzon, I hear you've recently joined the training ranks, no?"

Zuko breathed in hard, trying not to let his heart hammer.

"Yes." Aang's answer was sharp, resounding.

"Well, how about you come with me? It would surely raise your status."

"A marvelous idea. Having a member of the Royal Family on this expedition will show the people that we stand behind it, as well as broaden Kuzon's abilities," Ozai said before Aang could decline or come up with an excuse.

Zuko, with everyone else, turned to Aang. He could see Aang very desperately trying not to break face, trying to even look excited. There was a pregnant pause in which Aang said nothing at all, and Zhao frowned.

Under the table, Zuko kicked Aang's shins. If Aang didn't speak up now...well, Zuko disliked this too, but Aang had to agree. Ozai had played his hand.

"I would be honored," Aang finally managed, grinning at Zhao. "If possible, perhaps we could push it back? I just began, and to be honest, I still need to master a few basics."

"Well, the airbender factions have been quiet," Zhao said. "So, we won't be shipping out tonight." He seemed genuinely upset about this. The relief from not just Aang, but from his Uncle and cousin as well, was palpable.

In his head, Zuko was already running through scenarios to get Aang out of his, rapidly shoving away the ones that would not work, not even considering those that would lead to Aang being discovered, and entertaining a handful. He wondered if his uncle was doing the same logistical equations too, though he figured it was because his uncle could not approve of this mission.

"Yes, a shame. A show of force would be quite what we need right now," Ozai sighed, stroking his beard.

"Ah, the unsettled few," Zhao said, and for once, Zuko felt very out of the conversation.

"They're just idiots, hardly a concern," Azula laughed. "You can't seriously think they're a danger?"

"Excuse me, what are you all discussing?" Zuko asked, deciding that asking now rather than waiting until it was far past the time to admit ignorance was better.

"I suppose you've been busy with the Ladies, haven't you?" Ozai just blinked at Zuko. "But I find it hard to believe you haven't heard about the few Earth Kingdom leaders that are considering an attack on us, since we've been 'weakened'."

"Oh," Zuko frowned. "Those."

He would have to be deaf not to hear about it. First, the Earth Kingdom leaders who discussed this were not as quiet as they thought they were. Second, when you had loyal serpents at your beck and call, few conversations were truly ever in confidence. Third, it just made political sense that there would be some people begging for thread after such an upset.

"You don't seem worried."

Zuko rolled his answer around his tongue before he spoke. "For once, I agree with Azula. I don't think it's a concern. None of the Earth Kings have the power to overthrow us, even if they tried. Plus, I hope we wouldn't need to remind them what would happen if they made an attempt."

Not that Zuko wanted that to happen, or thought fear was the right way to go. Nevertheless, his father did manage to keep a firm grip on his colonies.

"Shame," Zhao chuckled. "A public treason beheading can be quite the event."

Zuko felt ill just looking at Zhao. If he considered an execution a fun family event, Zuko loathed to think what he'd do to any airbenders to get the information he thought they knew.

"Brother, look at the time," Uncle Iroh said after a tense moment. Ozai gazed out the window.

"I see what you mean. Dinner will be ready shortly and we've been in here much too long. I think we've made a good dent in the list," Ozai said, leaning forward to examine a list of topics he'd written out, mostly on certain restorations of the palace. It was dry as hell, but it wasn't murderous rhetoric, so Zuko much preferred it.

Aang was out of the hall first, just a smidge too fast for normality. Luckily, anyone who would have reason to worry about why seemed preoccupied. Ozai had broken off to speak to Zhao and Azula hung around, like a puppy, eagerly waiting to hear anything of the plans.

Zuko felt torn. On one hand, he felt a certain responsibility for any airbenders out there (adopt one, adopt them all), and lingering may shed some more light on Zhao's plans, but after today, Aang was no doubt in a bad place.

Zuko picked his option without a second thought. Katara had told him once he was a bad politician, but a good person. Of course he'd go see if Aang was okay.

xXxX

Aang stumbled through the doors of his personal quarters, beelining for the bathroom. He felt his knees buckle and before he knew it, his forehead was pressed flush against the toilet, his whole body shaking. Deep ripples passed over his shoulders like an earthquake and he felt his lunch come up violently. He coughed until it was just bile, and then coughed some more.

He was being told to go and murder his own people. The thought made him feel ill again, but his throbbing headache took precedence now that his stomach had been emptied.

He fell back on his haunches, wiping his hand across his mouth. The headache had been unending, honestly. Ever since the night of the attack, there had been a blinding pain in his temples that hadn't subsided.

"Shut up, shut up," Aang commanded in a hushed, but furious, whisper. Alas, it did little to help.

He'd heard the whispers. Not the whispers everyone else was talking about, the whispers of more airbenders, miraculously, or the whispers of some foolhardy Earth Lords planning a coup (or, theorizing and dreaming about staging one). No, Aang was hearing whispers that only existed inside of his head.

Now that the Spirit Link had been established a second time, the Avatars of the past were crawling out of the woodwork of his mind, assuaging him at every second with past memories as well as ongoing commentary.

It was enough to drive anyone freaking batty.

They had a lot to say about Commander Zhao's announcement.

_Sometimes, an Avatar must be a warrior, before anything else. You are less Air Nomad than you are the Avatar-_

That was Kyoshi, who had one of the more militant perspectives.

_Ozai will make a mistake, have no fear. It will not be long until my kin take the throne, Agni willing. In the meantime, I'd suggest-_

_Ah, don't listen to Roku! What does he know of modern day Fire Lords, since he thought he knew Sozin so well. If you ask me-_

"I haven't asked you," Aang snapped to empty air. "So please, just please, go away."

Nothing, but, it was worth a try.

He wondered if he'd accepted the spirit link earlier if this would have been more gradual. Or, was it always like this, a room of too many people?

_The Avatars have always held a place inside the current Avatar's mind, however, this is a special circumstance you have in all areas._

Agh, even his thoughts were not his own anymore.

_Technically Aang, these are our thoughts too, since we are all the same person. We are like your conscious, but a bit more formally present._

"A lot more present!" Aang shoved himself up, leering his elbows fall on his vanity as he splashed water onto his face. Luckily, Roku was the main 'speaker' if you will, who he preferred to the others. It was the 'him' before him, after all, which probably was why. He didn't think he'd ever get used to his mind feeling so...full.

"Kuzon?" There was a gentle rap on the door, accompanied by the nervous shuffling of Zuko.

"Yeah, come in," Aang sighed, wiping his face off with a rag.

When Zuko entered, there was a moment of silence. Then, gingerly, Zuko reached inside of his armor and pulled out the journal that made Aang's head swim and his vision blur.

"I was keeping it in my chest of drawers, but now I think I shouldn't let it go." Zuko was the first to speak, switching to the Nomadic Tongue. After Sozin's conquest, he switched all of the nations he ruled to a common language, something that was an amalgamation of mainly Fire Nation words, with some Earth Kingdom roots. Nearly everyone spoke this tongue now, and only smaller communities held onto their native language. The surprise that the Southern Water Tribe had learned it too was staggering, but Sokka had explained it to Zuko, pointing out that it would have been foolish not to learn the enemy's language. At this point, it was just convenient. Aang knew every language, even the obscure ones, if a past Avatar had known it. Early on, in their travels, Aang had taught Zuko how to speak Nomadic, and it was coming in handy now more than ever. It wouldn't be odd for Zuko to know a dead language, since the study of dead languages was a Royal habit, though his sister learned languages like Old Fire Tongue and The Language Before Bending. "And we should get rid of it as soon as possible, with what Zhao is suggesting…"

Aang didn't answer, not at first.

"I just, I don't know how much longer I can do this, Zuko." He crossed his arms, sighing. Zuko pulled out a chair for him, and Aang sat down next to someone he considered to be his brother.

"I know."

It didn't need to be said that Aang was referring to literally everything. The military training, during which he was just waiting for a slip up, causing everyone to know everything. Masquerading as Kuzon, as while he'd grown used to living in the Palace, it didn't mean he'd grown comfortable. Even being the Avatar, specifically an Avatar in hiding, felt like a bit too much to handle sometimes.

"We all know," Aang grumbled. "I'm failing, Zuko. And these voices…"

"Voices?" Zuko jerked his head up.

Aang bit his lip. He'd forgotten he hadn't gotten around to telling Zuko about that yet. "Yeah. Voices. Past Avatars, giving unsolicited advice...all the time."

_I'd hardly say my advice is unsolicited! If you think a question, how can you expect no answer!_

"Shut up, Kuruk."

Zuko was staring wide-eyed at Aang. "You mean, you hear all of them, all the time?"

"Yeah. It's giving me a headache the size of an air bison. I think I need a spiritual teacher too, someone to guide me through this. The past Avatars couldn't have survived like this, they'd never get anything done!"

Zuko was biting his nails. "We have a lot of problems."

Aang's shoulders deflated. "Yeah. I don't know how I can go and do that to my kin."

"Well…" Zuko began with a slowness Aang did not enjoy. "Maybe it's not the worst thing?"

"You're joking."

"No, I mean, you'd be right at the center of information. I mean, if you get in good with Zhao, get him to trust you, you can learn where these airbenders are. And maybe, they all just vanish or go underground before you get to them, or you find ways to 'kill them' without doing so. They wouldn't pop up again, that's for sure, because I'd send them to Dhakiya and-"

Aang broke through the voices that were telling him how sound Zuko's plan was to squint.

"What does Dhakiya have to do with anything?"

Aang vaguely recalled the dark-haired, quieter twin that had been sent home a long time ago, under very abrupt circumstances. However, he failed to see how she connected to any of this. Frankly, Aang had hardly given her a second thought when she was in the palace, much less since she'd left.

Zuko clasped his hands in front of his face, inhaling. "Aang. I'm going to tell you something and you have to promise not to get upset."

"Oh, that's always a merry old way to start something," Aang scoffed, looking at Zuko with an irritated glare. "But now you've caught my attention."

"Dhakiya...she was an airbender. She is, I mean. I sent her away for her safety. She's with Appa."

At the mention of his beloved familiar, Aang's heart constricted. He shoved away questions he had about his pet to focus on what Zuko had just told him.

"And when, Zuko, were you going to tell me?" he asked, voice dangerously low. He rarely used such a tone, but he figured right now was a good time.

"I'm not sure." Zuko's face was red, and Aang knew that he knew how shitty it was to keep this information from him. "It wasn't...I didn't want to upset you."

"And you figured I wouldn't be upset now? Agni, Zuko...that's the first airbender other than myself I would have actually met! I know there have been whispers, but we haven't found any of them."

"I know. That's because the Equalists are disposing of them. I think they're looking for the Avatar too." Zuko's shoulders slumped low. "I think they might be working with my father. Admittedly, recently, I'm unsure. It wouldn't make complete sense, but it would clear up a few things."

"This day just gets better and better," Aang groaned. "You'd better have a damn good reason for not telling me." he glowered, with a venom in his hissed words.

"I thought you'd go into the Avatar state," Zuko said simply, which wasn't unreasonable to assume.

"And what, now that I have-"

"Yeah, now that you have, cat's sort of out of the bag anyway. Small miracles that it happened in a metal, underground bunker," Zuko said, missing the acerbic way Aang had begun his previous comment. Or, he'd heard it and ignored it.

"I'm pissed at you," Aang said, almost as angry at Zuko right now as he was at Ozai. He couldn't believe he'd been left out of his own people's strife. He shoved Zuko. "Get out."

Zuko got up, sighing hard. "I knew you would be angry. So, take a day. After that, we can't afford to hold grudges when there's so much at stake." He left Aang in his room. Aang slammed the door and threw his scarf off in frustration, looking at the blue arrow peeking past his hair, feeling betrayed and stupid. He hated that Zuko had been handling him like a child. He hated he was just finding out now. He hated that he could have done something.

"Not hold a grudge, the gall," Aang muttered, trying to work through these emotions.

_He's right, you know._

"Go walk off a cliff, Yangchen."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES! (and there's a lot, ya dont have to read them all, but you might find it interesting and worth your while!)
> 
> 1- This is all the girls that remain: Katara Smellerbe Jin Mai OnJi Suki toph TyLee Yue Alcina Avizeh Kilee Maiha Nadhari Ratana Saoirse
> 
> 2- So, as this chapter shows, we are getting two shiny new POVs that will continue on! I know Katara wasn't in this one, but this was to kinda shove you all back into the story :) Katara's POV will still be most frequent, followed by Zuko's, and then Aang's.
> 
> 3- Just a note, as I think I've said before, if I had to pick a ship other than Zutara for Zuko, it would Zuko/Suki! Since, as I wrote, she's his 'number 2' in a sense here
> 
> 4- I've been making aesthetic boards/mood boards for the OCs! You can find them on my tumblr (youngblodlex22) or 'Art of A Delicate Subterfuge' on archive of our own! So far I have Alcina, Aiga, and Dhakiya's boards done, but if there's someone else ya want to see next, lemme know. Everyone's fav OC seemed to be Aiga (tru) or Shoji (who actually isn't an OC, but is a canon-albeit not very fleshed- character). On that same vein, follow my tumblr because I'll be starting up Daily Fic Recs again, some for Zutara/Atla and lots of other fandoms because I read A LOT of fanfiction!
> 
> 5- I will be planning on update weekly, every Sunday if I can help it :)
> 
> 6- Can anyone spot the Lost reference in there? Kudos if ya do!
> 
> 7- So, as I was writing, I totally forgot that like there was an actual different military vs guard in the Fire Nation. SO how I chose to do it from here on out is that EVERYONE starts out as a general guardsman/is taught the same type of skills/has to guard the Fire Nation palace for at least a year. After that, if they show aptitude for other skills such as Naval intellegence, they can get specially picked for other groups, but at any time the groups can interchange each other; ie Zhao can come and take recruits from the general pool, or he could go to the Air Force if he really wanted and take from there.
> 
> 8- On that note, everyone was asking for Zhao and his evilness. Who is scared/excited to see him?
> 
> 9- As you might be able to tell, the Aang in this story is very different in a lot of ways from the Aang in the original serious. First off, he's sixteen, so he has sixteen year old thoughts and problems. I chose to have his Avatar pasts very present in his mind, like constantly there (the show isn't like that) to make things more interesting. More than that, he's been living as member of the Royal Family for four years now, nearly five, so that's really gotta take a toll on someone mentally. He's a little less naieve, a little more sly.
> 
> 10- I love the idea that the nations actually speak different languages! I read an awesome fic on that once, I'll have to find it. Anyway, though, since Ozai took over, there's a standard Language that everyone knows, and Katara's tribe learned it to be able to communicate terms of surrender and keep intellegence up, which is why everyone is speaking the same. However, lots of cities have their own dialect or even own native language apart from the Fire Nation Standard.
> 
> 11- So I hear there's an ATLA reboot coming out. I have a lot of very mixed thoughts about it. I don't want to overwhelm these notes with ALL my thoughts about it, but if anyone's interested, I'd be happy to talk about it haha. Also, what are your thoughts on it?
> 
> 12- Last, I swear! For every 10 reviews someone gives me, ie; review ten times, and you get a drabble written by me of a couple of your choice! I do have a list from the previous fic, and I know that I have those to do, but I'm finishing up my last semester of undergrad so I probably won't have time to do those until after Dec. However, once I graduate, I won't be doing much so I'll have AMPLE time to write! Some of you might have hit that ten review mark from reviewing the last chap, but I'll let people know next chapter what the stats are. On that note also, I try to answer every review I can. I also try to do it after I update a new story. But, there's a lot this time, so if you don't see a reply after this posts tonight I'm working through them and if you don't get one, I'm sorry I didn't mean to miss it!
> 
> On that note, let me know what you think of this new chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

"Wait, what? Prince Zuko proposed to you and you said no? Please, oh please, describe his face."

"What part of 'sworn to secrecy' do you not understand, Toph?" Katara asked, throwing a handful of grass at her. "And that's just mean. Heartbroken, as you can imagine." Even thinking of it now caused a lump to grow inside Katara's chest. She'd replayed that moment in her head a million times. And, in at least half of those times, she'd said yes. She had jumped up and down with joy, thrown her arms around Zuko and accepted. In the other half, it had gone the same way, Katara turning him down. And, if anything, those moments were winning by sheer logic of the situation at hand.

Oh, if things were so simple that she could have just said yes.

But they weren't.

"I understand it perfectly. It means don't go gabbing to Avizeh - who we all know is a nasty gossip - about it," Toph said, throwing a whole chunk of earth back at Katara.

"I think it also means not yelling it to high heavens," Suki added dryly. "Because, you know, I think with that tone, Katara's family in the South may have heard you."

"Ach, you two take away the fun. Besides, I would have found out eventually," Toph said with a wicked glint to her milky eyes. "I know everything."

"Which is why I thought I'd tell you first, get any mix ups out of the way," Katara said. Also, frankly, she'd needed to tell someone. Well, she'd told Aiga - of course she'd told Aiga - but Katara wanted to tell her other friends too. She wished she could tell Eva, but she didn't feel comfortable writing it in a message to Eva, along with her other messages. She'd written Eva five times since the announcement and Eva's leaving eight days ago, wanting to make good on her promise that she was going to continue being Eva's friend.

Last she heard, Eva had mentioned that they were going to try to go to the Moon Spirit Pool to see if the holy water could regain her sight, although Yue - who also had been informed - seemed less than optimistic about it.

"The water can't do everything," Yue had said. "It has limits, you know."

' _It saved your life,_ ' Katara had wanted to argue back, and saving a life seemed like the biggest 'everything' there was. Katara would be royally miffed if the reason Yue's life was saved but Eva's sight could not be was because Yue was a Princess, but Katara also admitted that the spirits may have saved Yue for reasons beyond any of their control or knowledge, that Yue may be a piece on a larger board they didn't have the height to see.

Katara got the feeling of late that there were a lot of Pai Sho pieces in motion that she was not privy to, of a larger game brewing on the horizon. That the Equalist attack was just the first move of a long, long game. It frustrated Katara.

However, that also meant that the time she had with the girls here was fleeting, and a part of Katara wanted to retain the simplicity of the reason they'd all come; to win Zuko's heart. This was just another reason why Katara felt obliged to share what had happened with Suki and Toph.

"If things were different," Suki said slowly, and although there was no question in her exact words, Katara understood her imploring and slightly pitying gaze. Katara would have been offended that Suki felt sorry for her, but Katara felt sorry for herself. She swallowed hard, and waited. After a couple moments, Suki dropped her look, perhaps thinking Katara wouldn't answer. In reality, Katara was just trying not to be sad all over again.

"I wanted to," Katara said after a second. She was twirling a grass blade between her forefinger and thumb, focusing hard on it, like it held all the answers she was looking for. "I really, truly wanted to."

There was a silence that followed, as though Suki and Toph didn't know how to respond.

"Well, I'm glad you didn't," Toph said flopping back on the ground with a wide grin.

"Toph!" Suki gaped. 

"Oh, don't be so high and mighty. You're glad too. I can feel it," Toph said smugly. "Because, well, of course we want you to be happy Katara, and we want Prince Zuko - who can throw a helluva tantrum - to be happy too. However," she said in a grand and slightly nagging voice, "It would just be done. Poof. Nothing more. Suki would have to return home, the rest of the girls would be scrambling for marriages, and I would have to...I dunno, take off into the night. 'Cuz, I'm sure as hell not returning home! My parents probably have eight dignitaries lined up for my hand, all at least two decades older than me," Toph finished, breathing hard. She grimaced, collecting her thoughts. "Point being, Sugar Queen, one way or another you're gunna marry Zuko." She held up a finger at Katara's affronted expression. "But to have maybe another couple months to get our turtle-ducks in order is a blessing."

"Well, maybe Zuko could let you remain on as some sort of...emissary or something?" Suki offered up. "He loves you, as a sister."

"Unless it also comes with a marriage offer from someone of importance, I doubt my parents will go for it," Toph said glumly. "Because, well, who'd it be? Lu Ten? Well, I mean, I could marry him but it wouldn't be any real fun. Kuzon? Ha."

She seemed to brush the issue away, as easy as clearing dust from her plate. Katara wished she had the mental ability to do that. "Anyway, at least now I know this has an expiration date."

"It always did?" Katara asked, confused.

"Well, sorta, but like...this is for real. Zuko is such an awkward person that I could have seen him unable to make any real decisions and just stretch this out to infinity," Toph explained. As much as Katara wanted to protest that, there was a kernel of truth to it.

Suki reached over for their plate of finger cakes, which was far away from Toph ruining it with dirt. Toph had argued that dirt was healthy for everyone, and frankly, they should all try to incorporate it into their diet. Unsurprisingly, there were few takers on that.

"So, what now?" Suki asked.

"What do you mean?" Katara said, her eyes looking out over the other sets of girls dotted on the lawn, trying to enjoy the quietness of this moment.

"So, he proposed to you. That's huge. You said no. Do you, ah, stay? Leave? Do you continue on like it just never happened? Pull back on affections? Give more?"

Leave it to Suki to ask the hard-hitting questions, the ones that Katara did not want to answer.

She pressed her lips into a thin line.

"I stay, we discussed that much, at least," she began carefully, unsure how much she wanted to share with them. However, since she'd already dropped the big thing, everything else seemed so little in comparison. "I, well, I'm not sure what's going to happen with us. I really like him, and I want to continue seeing him but…if it makes it easier...I told him to ask someone else. Anyone, even Nadhari." She dropped her voice down to a watery whisper.

"Holy shit," Toph said, covering her mouth.

"Oh, wow," Suki agreed, her brow creasing.

"It might not matter," Katara continued. "It's not safe here anymore. We know Ozai is out for me, and this whole big competition might be just an excuse to get rid of me. It might be already decided, my fate. I can't win against someone like him, no matter how good my bending is!" she said, her voice reaching a slight hysterical tone.

"Yikes. I mean, you're right." Toph sat up, looking serious for a second. "You can't win if Ozai somehow worms his way into fighting you. No one would. Not even me."

Katara's jaw hung open to hear Toph admit such weakness. Suki looked just as unprepared.

Toph looked between them, her face reddening. "But if you ever repeat that, I'll deny it!" she snapped.

"Ozai doesn't care about you, no offense." Suki waved her hand.

"Good," Toph sniffed.

"So, chances are, you'll fight like Kuzon or someone. Someone we know you'll beat. But for Katara..." Suki swallowed. "He said to prove your worth. The worth of fighting to General Iroh is going to be different than to Ozai or to Azula. To them, Agni Kai is usually to death or disfigurement. Are you sure you want to chance that? Wouldn't it be easier to give up now?"

"I'd hate myself if I did." Katara pressed her forehead to the V between her knees. "If I didn't even try. I've been told I'm too stubborn for my own good."

"Yeah, I think I told you that verbatim once," Toph said.

Katara didn't look up, but she gave a half smile. "Yeah," she said, her voice muffled, "You wouldn't be the first."

"Well, first, you need to get lessons from Master Pakku. And, I could teach you some Kyoshi moves, something he wouldn't expect," Suki began in earnest.

"She still would need something else! If she goes against Big Daddy Evil, there's no telling what he could throw at her…"

The voices of her friends faded out as Katara let the sound of her blood pumping through her ears overcome her.

Blood.

Her head snapped up. She heard Suki and Toph still waffling between different options. Katara thought about Toph and metal bending. About the flower. About the fly.

"Guys," Katara whispered.

They didn't hear her.

"Guys," she said more forcefully. They looked over, as though forgetting that the person they were talking about hadn't left. "There's something I could do."

"Well, c'mon, lay it on us!" Toph said.

"I'm not sure if it would even work. If I'm strong enough for it...mentally or physically," Katara began. "Toph, remember when we were at the Spa and I was asking you about metal bending?"

"Yep."

"I can't describe it, but it's something that I've been thinking about in theory for a while. It could be game changer. However, I'm not sure if it can be done, or how ethical it is."

"Katara..." Suki began with a slight disapproval. "Cheating?"

"Yes, please tell!" Toph was far too excited. "Lay it on us."

Katara tried to explain the idea of the blood bending to them. About how she'd realized that living things were made up of liquid, themselves included. How when she tested her theory with the flower, she'd ruined it. About how she'd felt that resistance with the fly. All of it. She tried not to look at their faces, sure they'd call her a villain, be disgusted.

"I haven't tried again," she murmured after a beat where neither of them spoke.

Suki looked deep in thought. Toph looked a little uneasy.

"I've heard of that," Toph said, "but only in stories. Nightmares." Her pale eyes locked with Katara's and though she couldn't see, Katara felt like she was looking right through Katara. "Horror stories. Things to keep kids in their beds at night. The Monster of the South."

"What?" Katara said, shocked she'd never heard a peep about this.

"It's an old one too, I never thought any of it was real. I mean, it makes the person who uses it out to be a...a…" Toph gave a pained look, "You know."

"A menace," Katara bit out blithely. "A scare tactic. A savage Water Tribe beast," she said.

Toph looked down. "Yeah."

Katara quelled her anger, just for the moment. "Well, most myths are based in truth. Which means, there's a good chance this entire theory isn't just in my head. It can be done. Now, trust me, it makes me feel weird and squicky to imagine doing this to any person, to basically take away their free will, but with Ozai…" She trailed off, biting her lip.

"You're not a bad person, we know that, Katara." Suki gave her an encouraging smile.

"I haven't been able to find something, anything, to practice on. I mean, I guess I should be happy there are no mice running around the palace, but that would have been my first choice," she said, trying to insert even a modicum of humor into it.

"Well, do me." Toph stood. "Katara, I am giving you explicit and verbal permission to attempt to control my movements," she said firmly, "so no bad feelings."

Katara hesitated, still unsure.

"Okay," she said softly. "But, if at any time and I mean it feels bad or strange or anything, you tell me," Katara added firmly.

"Let's look at it this way, you can heal me. So, if things go south, you can stitch me back together!"

"Not funny, Toph," Katara mumbled. Toph stood, arms out, tilting her head in a 'come and get me' sort of motion. Katara sat on her knees, tucking her long dress underneath her and shoving her sleeves up to her shoulders. She breathed out slowly, trying to slip into a quasi-meditative state, because this wasn't easy. It wouldn't be easy.

Katara decided just to try to move Toph's arm. She imagined all of the veins and vessels in Toph's arm, and she tried to feel where they were. She had a thought; maybe, if her hands were wet, it would be easier. She had to wet her hands to heal someone, so maybe blood bending was just a different step away from doing that.

She dipped the tips of her fingers into the tea cup next to Suki, sending her an apologetic half-smile, but Suki wordlessly pushed the entire saucer toward Katara for her needs.

She looked back at Toph. Having water, some sort of conductor, seemed to help. There was that resistance, but Katara could almost feel it move.

"Are you gunna-" Toph began.

"Shush! Let Katara concentrate." Suki quieted her with a glare. Toph raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more.

Sweat beaded on Katara's forehead. She breathed in harder, trying to force the will of a power she hardly understood. Her arms ached, though she'd only been holding them in the air for a couple minutes.

"Just a twitch," Katara murmured, "Please."

If she couldn't use blood bending at all, she had to know now, so she wasn't spending her time on a fruitless endeavor and could bulk up on other skills.

But if she could do this, make it move at all…

Just when Katara was going to give up, Toph's arm flailed. It was ungraceful, and Katara found she couldn't much control it, but it did move. As soon as Katara got it, it was like the cord that connected her to Toph's arm snapped back on her, sending Katara falling back hard on her shoulder blades. Toph stumbled, as though she was shoved by an invisible force. She grabbed her arm, holding it firmly at her side, her eyes wide with shock.

"Woah," she breathed out.

Katara sat up, brushing away her slightly damp hair from her forehead. She felt utterly drained. It felt like she'd finished a bending match that had been going on for hours. She downed Suki's tea, trying to catch her own breath.

"Well, you did it," Suki said slowly.

"What was it like?" Katara turned to Toph. "Did it hurt?"

"No, not hurt." Toph was rubbing her arm. "It was totally crazy. Like, one second I can move my arm on my own terms, right? Next moment, it's like I just couldn't feel it at all. Or, I could, but my ability to move it took a back seat in my mind, and I couldn't connect to it. And my arm moving without my precise thought? Totally batty. Like, a bad cactus juice trip or something. It sorta stung when the connection snapped, and now my arm's asleep," she finished. "But, I can move it myself again." She wiggled her fingers.

"I don't think I can do that again today," Katara muttered. "I need to work up my ability, somehow."

"At least we know it can be done," Suki said, placing her hands on Katara's shoulders. "If you get kicked out because you lose this fight, I'll be so upset. We all will. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a riot on the hands of the capitol." Suki offered a kind look.

"Suki!"

Maiha came to stand above them. She was wearing a skirt that was much shorter than anything Katara had ever seen her in, and her hair was pulled up and out of her face.

"Hello, Maiha," Suki greeted, and Katara echoed with a wave. Toph didn't really acknowledge her at all.

"Hey, so," Maiha chewed on her bottom lip, "I'm sorry to interrupt your tea time, but uh, I wanted to ask if you'd show me some moves. You know, as a non-bender. For the thing," Maiha said, twirling a stray piece of her updo in a finger.

"Of course. I'd be happy to," Suki said. "And we were just about done, right girls?"

"Yeah. Have at it. Knock her out. Literally," Toph said, showing her teeth in a grin. Maiha looked a little green.

"She doesn't mean literally," Katara scolded. Suki brushed herself off, leaving to go across the green with Maiha.

"It's crazy to see everyone so worked up about this fight," Toph commented. "It will surely cull some girls. I mean, Maiha's never gunna win," Toph said dismissively.

"Shame, because she's perfectly nice. Sad that the thing that would take away that chance are these matches," Katara commented.

"Tough nuts," Toph snorted.

"Well, everyone's super understanding about helping each other. I mean, I think we want to win because we're the best, not because Zuko's real choice got cut in a stupid Agni," Katara said.

"Not Nadhari. She's practically giddy about this turn of events."

"Most," Katara amended. "It makes me think we should help how we can."

"Teaching bending? I mean, what Waterbenders are there? I would offer it to the Earthbenders, but they're not at my level, doubt they could keep up," Toph said a little haughtily.

"There's something to discuss. Yue has the literal spirit of waterbending in her. I think it just needs to be opened or a switch turned or something. If we can, should we?"

"How?" Toph frowned.

"Aang," Katara whispered. "He's the Avatar. He could absolutely do it. And then she'd have a fighting chance, because we both know that without it, Yue can't fight. She wasn't raised like that."

"We can't help every poor sob story out there. That would mean telling her he's the Avatar," Toph hissed quietly. "Can we trust her with that?"

Katara paused. "Yes. I think so," she said quickly.

"Nuh-uh. You paused. You have to be unwaveringly sure, Katara," Toph said. "This isn't getting the Prince's hand in marriage, this freaking life and death."

Katara hunched her shoulders. "Yeah," she sighed dejectedly, "I know."

"It's a nice thought. If Yue knew, I'm sure she'd be grateful you spared her a spot in that mind of yours. But realistically, Katara, the fewer people who know about Aang, the better."

Who would have thought Toph would be the voice of reason?

Katara didn't reply.

"I can see you still trying to figure it out," Toph said. "Well, not literally see, but you're giving off major thinking vibes. Did you know that when you think it feels like someone's shaking a can of tea leaves? Fun fact."

"What if Yue didn't know? Like, she didn't see or experience it?" Katara asked.

"What? We knock her out in the night, drag her though the Palace, have Aang do his unlocky thingy and then drag her back and act surprised when she can waterbend?" Toph snorted. At Katara's silence, she ran her hands down her face. "Awe hell no."

"Well, do you have another option? I will feel guilty forever If I don't try!" Katara snapped back.

"I say we put a pin in it. The fight's not for a while. Think hard about what you'd risk for one girl. Think, and I demand this of people very rarely," Toph said.

"I-"

"Everyone!" Whatever Katara was about to argue was cut off as Caecillia strolled into the garden. "Everyone, come here! I have news."

The girls got up, eager and nervous, especially after the last 'news'.

"What is it, Cillia?" Anasemla asked, biting her nails.

"I've managed to get the exact, written out, binding rules of this supposed fight. So we know exactly what this is. No surprises, no shocks. It's all in a legal document now," Caecillia said with a tinge of pride. Katara blinked; never would she have thought to procure such an item. From the looks on the girls' faces, it seemed most had similar thoughts.

"Where'd you think to do that?" Jin said.

"I don't know. I mean, I've just grown up around this Royal Family stuff my whole life. Nothing is set until it's in writing. It matters," Caecillia said, kneeling down and rolling out the scroll she carried. She read it over, skimmed it, nodding to herself. "Okay. So, each girl will randomly have to fight one Royal Family member. The 'random' choice will be determined by the Royal Family picking names out a vase with a Fire Sage watching their every move. Each family member will be going up against three girls. The order will be put in place by the Fire Sages, as so that each member of the Royal Family gets at least one match after they've just gone to cool off. As for us; we just have to 'prove the worth of the individual's battle skills to the discretion of the opponent'. Ugg, that's vague as hell, crap. However, that means that we don't have to 'beat' them in order to pass, we just have to prove ourselves."

"How will we know if we don't pass? Can a member of the Royal Family just cut it off right away and say 'nope, not worthy'?" Toph asked.

Caecillia continued to scan through the very long parchment.

"Nuh-uh. You choose when you tap out. It's up to you to give up, though it comments that being knocked unconscious also constitutes as being disqualified. However, this wording means that if you lose an arm - extreme case - and want to keep fighting, seems like you can."

"They could cut off our arm?" On Ji squeaked.

"You'd probably want to fold before it got to that part." Ty Lee patted her shoulder.

"Oh, okay, it talks about what's allowed in the ring as a contestant here, for the girls. The Royal Family is allowed only one weapon, bending included. I mean, that makes it fairer for us, in a way. That's good," Caecillia said. "For us on our end, we can bring up to three weapons into the ring with us, and bending counts as a 'weapon'. They even wrote in something for you, Toph: metal bending vs earthbending is two different weapons, so if you wanted to use both, you'd have to write them down."

"That's utter bullshit," Toph swore, causing a couple of the girls to look uncomfortable with her language, "Absolute fucking stupid! I just knew they'd screw us over one way or another." She crossed her arms, scowling, "Guess it doesn't matter, though. I'll win this with one 'weapon', thank you very much."

"What happens if Toph didn't write down metal-bending, and then she used it anyway?" On Ji asked, looking warily at the pissed-off Earthbender.

"If you use a weapon that is not on the list that you'll give to the Fire Sages, you will be eliminated," Caecillia continued.

"What about Mai?" Alcina jerked a finger toward her. "She has like, twenty knives on her body at all times."

"Twenty-two at the moment," Mai agreed. Katara, as well as many others, tried to covertly look Mai up and down to figure out where she was squirreling away all those items. A part of Katara didn't want to know all the places Mai was hiding them.

"Uhm, yeah, good question," Caecillia said, going back in. "Okay, so with weapons, what counts as (1) weapon is however many are conventionally sold in the Fire Nation together. Like, you buy a sword by itself, but buy double swords obviously in doubles, so you can bring both in and have it count as one. It has a super long list for our convenience, but, hmm…" Caecillia looked Mai up and down. "I see you have throwing knives. Those are sold in sets of three, so you can bring three in that counts as a single weapon. And shurikins are sold in six, and you get the idea."

This sent the girls into a twitter, wondering about, if they wanted weapons, how they could go about getting them.

"Weapons must be purchased by the individual," Caecillia said. "Or gifted. No borrowing, basically, so they can log each one. We have to log our weapon choices no later than four days before the fight."

This was problematic to Katara. If she wanted to use blood bending, she had to tell someone. And, if she wasn't able to use it or master it enough, she would have wasted a spot on her list where she could have put another weapon she could use.

"Will the family know?" Killee asked. "Like, if we're logging it, then they could prepare, whereas we don't know what they're using! How is that fair?"

"I mean, it's not hard to guess," Mai said cooly. "They'll all be using firebending."

"Still," Kilee said, looking red in the face.

"Lemme see…" Caecillia held up her finger. "Nope, nope. Stays between the Fire Sages, it's for their benefit. Because, if anything goes wrong, they have the final say of whether a girl passed or not. Not Prince Zuko, not Fire Lord Ozai."

"Like that's actually gunna happen," Top snorted under her breath.

Caecilla rolled up the scroll. "There's a bunch of other caveats and stuff. I'll try to compile a list of what's important, but if anyone has questions about a specific thing, I'll keep this with me. It can be confusing wading through the proper jargon used, but I'm quite used to it."

"Thank Agni we have you!" On Ji looked completely overwhelmed.

"How do we know you're not making this up?" Avizeh asked suspiciously. "That you're not telling us all the wrong stuff to throw us off and make us lose?"

"You can read it yourself, or someone who also knows all of the terms could, like Ty Lee or Mai." Caecialla tipped the scroll toward them. "I know there's no reason to believe me, but I think this whole affair is just stupid, so."

Ty Lee grabbed it out of her hand. She read the first foot. "Well, everything Cilla has claimed is true." She squinted, scratching her head. "I'd believe her. Plus, her aura is as clean as snow."

"Thanks?" Caecilla laughed uneasily, since Ty Lee was a person who was hard to respond to sometimes. "Anyway, I know a lot about weapons too, and I'd be willing to take you through the basic things sold here, or what you could have your handmaids get. We had to learn it all in Fire Military Training."

"You were in the military?" Suki sounded shocked. Caecillia, who wore the frilliest dresses and the softest makeup, who never wore pants and always had the poise of a future princess, who knew what cakes to eat at dinner with which utensils.

"Mhh. My parents figured that if I wasn't going to marry a Prince, I was going to claw my way up the military ladder. Of course, then the Choice started up again, and I was plucked out of my station," Caecillia explained. "I didn't like it, but I was good at it."

"I knew that's how I recognized you!" Ty Lee gasped. "I talked to you like two years ago, when you were in the Chin province."

"Yep, yeah, that was me," Caecillia sighed. "Well, at least it's coming in handy now. I don't really like talking about it," she said, clearly wanting the matter in general to be dropped, apart from what she was more willing to share.

Luckily, the girls seemed to get the memo.

"Anyway, tonight come to my bed area and I can sort of show you some weapons. Tomorrow, we can practice with them. I'm going to go and study this," she said.

About five or six girls followed after her to ask specific questions they had thought of, and Caecillia left with her nose buried in the parchment and fielding questions.

Toph let out a breath through her nose. "This is going to be much different than I thought," she admitted.

"Different hard? Different bad? Different…?" Katara fished, glancing down at Toph. Toph gathered up the last two finger cakes from the blanket they had spread out, shoving them both in her face.

"Different. Just different."

XXxxXX

Zuko was anxious.

Even if Katara had not seem him of late, she knew this to be true. When she caught a glimpse of him, he always seemed to be ringing his hands or answering eight different people's questions at one time. Most of the girls assumed this busyness was due to the recent attack. Many things needed to be fixed - from the small items such as the broken dishware up to the large items like a chaise lounge burned in two - and beyond that, plans needed to be made so it would not happen again. Many girls also did not bother him in that first week or so after. They understood that he was seeing no one, so they could hardly feel like they were being treated unfairly.

This bothered Katara.

She had grown used to their clandestine meetings, even when no one else got them. In the months she'd been here as the favorite of Zuko's, she'd become accustomed to preferential treatment. Now, in the wake of everything, it seemed even she was unable to catch him.

A part of Katara wondered if he was avoiding her after she rejected his proposal.

Still, she wished she could help with his nervous frown, the one that seemed perpetually plastered on his face these days.

Even if the restorations to the palace were not what troubled him, the battles coming up were sure to. This, very carefully, was going to cut a great number of girls whether Zuko wanted them to go or stay. After that, there would only be a handful left. This meant that Zuko would have to pick very soon who he wanted to be his wife, someone other than Katara.

So, Katara felt bad, since she was sure that part of his anxiety was caused by...well, her. Caused by her because she said no and forced him to have to consider someone else. Caused by her because she remained, giving him the slightest hope. Caused by her, because frankly, why else would Fire Lord Ozai command such a spectacle if not in the hopes of eliminating Katara in such a way that even Zuko could not save her? In other words, if she wasn't here, if Ozai had been able to get rid of her, maybe they wouldn't be parading through this circus they were pretending was to vet everyone.

She told three people her final theory, because it gnawed on her like nothing else. It wasn't fair that girls like On Ji, who could make a great future Fire Lady, would be culled only because a lack of warrior skills, which most high-class women weren't taught anyway. It was like asking a fish to walk on land and being upset when it couldn't.

The first was Aiga. Aiga just paused her brushing of Katara's hair when she heard and gave a quiet laugh.

"Katara, even if it were true, I doubt Zuko would ever be upset that you're on his mind. He loves you," she said simply.

It was nice to be reminded. After the whole palace was thrown upside down and Katara had been lumped in with the remainder of the girls while things were settled, it was easy to forget that moment had happened. But, out of everyone in the palace, Zuko was ready to marry Katara with no reservations.

Hearing Aiga confirm it made her feel better, for a day.

When she told Toph, she laughed. "Oh, gosh, Sugar Queen. Must be nice being you. Strange, though, because I thought you were a waterbender," she replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara scowled, hearing the heavy sarcasm in her friend's tone.

"Well, you just basically insinuated the world revolves around you, right? So that must mean you're the sun, which is basically the root of being a firebender and all…" Toph shrugged. "At least you're always gunna be warm."

After Katara got over her offence, that was also nice to hear. She would never tell Toph that, because her ego was big enough as it was, but she could do with someone telling her that it wasn't all about her. She didn't want it to be all about her. She just had a sinking feeling it was.

So, she told Suki. Suki, who wasn't as loyal to her as Aiga nor as blunt as Toph. Suki, who walked the middle of the line, usually, and always had given Katara sound advice in the past.

"I think it's a mixture. I think Fire Lord Ozai wants Prince Zuko to pick someone fast and this expedites the process. I think he wants you gone. I think he's playing some entirely other game we couldn't guess if we had a thousand tries. I also think worrying about it is playing into exactly the trap he wants us to fall into," Suki said after Katara told her the fears she held.

Yes, leave it to Suki to put things in a perspective that made sense. Katara agreed that it was all of those things, and many more.

If she was freaking out about this, she could only imagine what Zuko must be feeling.

There was one day, in which Katara saw him through a crowd between her moving one way and him another, that he sent her such a look of longing that Katara felt as though she'd already lost him. That in denying him, she'd signed her own release statement.

This was not what she had wanted at all.

Her attempts to reach him were all thwarted; she could rarely catch his eyes long enough to tug her necklace (and, when she did, he just gave a sad frown back and held up his long sheet of things to do), all missiles to the Prince were paused while he got his footing, and it had been days since a meal with the Royal Family.

In her loneliness without him around, Katara had time to truly think. After her own revelation of her feelings, she imagined a world where they'd met under different circumstances. Maybe he wasn't a Prince or maybe she actually was a Princess. Maybe it was in the past or in the future. Maybe their love story wouldn't be so filled with other issues. Katara thought of all the different scenarios in which she simply loved Zuko and he loved her in return and there was nothing else to say about it.

However impossible, it was a nice dream.

XXxxXX

Ty Lee was all alone.

Katara noticed this on her way to the bath house to soak away a long day's practice in the gardens, battling against Alcina and Suki. It was late in the day, far after dinner, but the air outside was still warm despite the darkness of night that had drifted upon the city. Kartara was surprised to see anyone still outside, since most of the girls had retired for the day, and were enjoying after-dinner tea and quiet activities before bed. The gymnast was over in a smaller Zen garden, twisted into an impossible knot that made Katara's bones ache just looking at her.

Seeing Ty Lee alone, in itself, wasn't a strange event. It was that Katara realized, as she passed, that she'd been seeing Ty Lee increasingly alone.

Ever since the attack, Ty Lee had been apart from the group more often than not. Before the attack, Ty Lee was almost always attached to someone, usually Mai. In fact, Katara could count on one hand the amount of times she'd seen the pair separated. And, an even lower number, that in the instance Ty Lee wasn't with Mai, she was with someone else, like Azula or Caecillia. In fact, Katara could only think of two singular times before the palace attack that Ty Lee had been all on her own.

Now, it seemed like this was the norm, not the exception.

This in itself stopped Katara and caused her to divert her bath, at least for a little bit, to investigate.

"Ty Lee...erm, are you okay?" Katara asked.

"Oh, this pose is hardly a problem. I learned it back when I was like seven," Ty Lee said, untangling herself. "But thanks for the concern. I could show it to you if you'd like." She seemed all too eager to have someone to talk to. That wasn't strange, Ty lee was always outgoing.

"No, I meant…" Katara wondered if maybe she was making up this issue in her mind. She hadn't been friends with Ty Lee before the attack, and hardly was now, so maybe Ty Lee spent a lot of time alone and Katara had just never noticed. Then, she saw the look in Ty Lee's eyes, the absolute relief to be talking to Katara. "I just noticed you weren't hanging out with Mai or Azula as much anymore."

"Oh, well." Ty Lee tried to force a smile, but it seemed pale and shallow. "I didn't think it was obvious."

Katara didn't really know how to respond to that. Ty Lee seemed to admit it so freely, in such a melancholy way.

Ty Lee pulled on her long braid, thinking.

"You haven't-" Katara began.

"No." Ty Lee interrupted before she even asked. "I guess that's part of it. Katara, can you answer a question honestly?"

"Uhm-"

"Your aura is mostly clear. I suppose that's a yes," Ty Lee said, patting Katara's shoulder. "How did you do it? Keep it a secret? And when did you find out about Kuzon?" It was the unspoken agreement that, when in public, they would all continue to call Aang 'Kuzon', just for pretenses.

"Oh." Katara was expecting something much more intrusive. "A long time ago. Months, I think. But it was an accident, much how you found out. I told Zuko Toph had to know right away too, because she was going to figure it out herself if we didn't come straight out and tell her. I guess...how did I keep it a secret? Well, I could talk to Toph or Kuzon or Zuko. Plus, I knew how grave the secret was to keep. It was bigger than anything else I may know."

Ty Lee nodded in thought. "I suppose that's the hard part. I can't tell Mai. She knows there's something I can't tell her, and that I'm not. I've been told I'm not a good liar, which I always thought was a positive." She sighed.

"Could you trust Mai?" Katara didn't like the idea of letting another person in on the secret, however…

"No." Ty Lee looked terribly guilty to admit it. "She's very adamant about her beliefs, one being that the Royal Family is never wrong. I have many things to be thankful for in regards to them, since they treated me better than my own family did."

"They do?" Katara tried not to look too surprised.

"A story for another day. Anyway, if she knew what Kuzon was...she'd feel obligated to tell. Plus, she doesn't know him personally, like we do," Ty Lee said carefully. "But even if he was a stranger, I couldn't. Telling Azula or Fire Lord Ozai is just as good as kill…" She choked a little on a small sob. She couldn't even get the word out. "I've tried to live my life with no blood on my hands. I've tried to be a better person than the way I was born, the way my parents were. Katara, it's just gotten so hard. It all matters so much now," she all but wailed.

"I know, Ty Lee," Katara said, rubbing her back. "And really, you have the strength of a lion-bear for staying so steadfast. No one ever thought it was easy. And you'll always have a friend with me."

"Really?"

"The secret brings us together," Katara insisted in a hushed but firm tone. "And the only way we're going to survive whatever happens is if we trust each other. No one was meant to protect the world alone."

Ty Lee wiped her tears on the back of her hand. "You're so wise, Katara. No wonder Prince Zuko practically adores you." She sniffled. "Have you seen Kuzon at all? Do you know how he's coping?"

"I haven't." Katara was flustered to realize she'd given Aang a smaller part of her thoughts than she likely should have. "Maybe we should go find him together?"

Ty Lee brightened, nodding with vigor.

The pair set out through the halls of the palace that were fit to travel. Ty Lee was a never-ending stream of words; mostly nothing important, usually about food or music or dance. Katara just nodded and told herself that Ty Lee had practically no one, and that she could be her friend with all things considered.

"Lady Ty Lee, Princess Katara." A familiar warm voice came from behind. Both girls turned to see Prince Zuko, a soft smile on his face at the sight of the pair. Or, Katara, since he was looking mostly at her.

"Prince Zuko." Ty Lee bowed.

"Princess Katara, ah, can I borrow you for a moment or two?" he asked, rubbing his neck. Katara felt a flash of relief overwhelm her. She looked back guiltily at Ty Lee.

"We were looking for Kuzon, so-"

"Oh! No, you go with him!" Ty Lee practically shoved Katara forward. "I guess I should get used to being alone," she said with a slightly sad smile.

"Kuzon is in the Royal Study, Ty Lee. I'm sure he'd be glad of your company," Zuko supplied. "So, if you want to, Princess…"

He held out his hand.

Katara took it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now that we've taken the time to see what our three POVs are up to, we're able to put them all back together, specifically, Katara and Zuko. You can ask my wonderful beta, hepchaton, but there's a slightly steamy bit coming up in the next chapter ;)
> 
> I'm still a wee bit behind from answering reviews from last chapter/the last bit of TPC, but I hope to be caught up soon XD School is just super busy for me right now!
> 
> Remember to review! Reviews will get me through an exam tomorrow ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but as it turns out, my holiday break was actually BUSIER than my school schedule, since my mom was doing family stuff the whole time, as well as I was trying to balance seeing some of my old highschool and middle school friends.
> 
> But I digress!
> 
> As always, thank you so much to all my reviewers (I'm still behind on replying, I'll get to it eventually...)

"You seem happier tonight." Katara breathed in the night air of the Royal Capitol. The air at home always tasted like 'cold.' Sokka claimed that cold doesn't have a taste, but Katara always disagreed. Cold tasted sharp, like fresh snow. The air here didn't taste just like 'warm', but it tasted like 'city'. It tasted like smoke and Fire Nation food and summer breezes. And, up on the roof, she had a good inhale of it.

Zuko had brought her up here with a small basket, and the pair sat staring at the stars. Zuko had offered her a sweet rice ball with a sticky fruit sauce that clung to her fingers.

"I'm happiest when I'm with you," Zuko admitted frankly, shoulder to shoulder with her.

"I had thought you were mad at me," Katara admitted in a rush, "After...well, after."

"I'll admit I was upset." Zuko titled his head. "But it's fairly impossible to stay mad at you."

Katara nodded to herself, licking off the sauce between her fingers. She realized after a second that Zuko was watching her tongue flicker in the folds of her digits, his pupils darkened and bleeding out into the golden flecks in his eyes. Katara felt a warm blush come all over her body, a shiver that sent her hairs standing upright.

Zuko noticed this and laughed to himself, looking away. Of course, it wouldn't be proper to launch herself at him on the roof, as much as she wanted to.

She looked up, gnawing on her lips. "I haven't had much time to stargaze since I came here," she said out loud, more of a thought than a comment. "It's familiar to do this."

"You study the stars a lot?" Zuko tilted his head.

"We have to. To travel anywhere by sea, I mean, once you're on the waves there's no land masses at all to tell you where you are. It was used a lot more when we visited the North, but we brought it back into use when we started having to go farther out to find fish." Katara gnawed on her nail. "You know them?"

"A bit. I spent a lot of my formative years in military training on the Navy ships with my Uncle. It's when I found Kuzon, remember?"

"Of course, right." Katara laughed to herself. "What's your favorite constellation? Mine is Kaguyagat."

"What? Was that a sneeze?" he said, trying not to sound rude.

"Kaguy…" Katara started again, but saw his blank stare. "You know, the fox. Right there." She pointed up.

"Oh, you mean Hoki Hosi… we call them the brush stars. Like, flickers of ink across the sky," Zuko said.

Katara laughed out loud. "I like mine better."

"I do too," Zuko agreed.

They spent the next hour comparing constellations. Katara realized that of course they'd have a totally different views on the stars, despite looking at the same constellations. It was a weird feeling to think that when her mother was teaching her how to chart the choppy dark seas using The Caribou stars, General Iroh was teaching Zuko the same thing but with a different name. In the beginning, had they this conversation, it would have reminded Katara about how different they were. Now, it just made her smile. She was glad to find out this information.

"Prince Zuko? Prince Zuko…?" A guard called for Zuko from below.

Katara looked down, but Zuko pulled her back against his chest, and a half-giggle, half-shriek erupted from her lips. He put his hand over her mouth, and she could feel his own chest quaking with laugher.

"Shh," he said. "Just for a little longer."

"What if it's important?" Katara sighed, knowing their stolen time was at an end.

"It probably is." Zuko dug his nose into her hair. "But let me just have this moment with you. I don't know when we'll get time alone again."

Katara's giggles ceased at the severity in his voice. She stilled against him, just felt the steady thump of his heart in his chest. The heart that pounded for her. She curled into him, sighing in quiet resignation.

"Prince Zuko?" The guard seemed panicked now.

"Spirits, they watch me twenty-four / seven," Zuko whispered. "Although, after the rebels…"

"Yeah." Katara focused in on the delicate embroidery on his robes. "You should probably let them know you're alive before they wake the whole palace looking for you."

Zuko didn't answer, but began to detach himself from her. Katara felt the lack of warmth immediately and something clenched inside of her.

"I had fun, though. I hope you did too," she whispered, helping him pack up his things.

"It was nice to forget about it all," Zuko said, his voice taking on a subtle change. However, Katara felt like she knew him so well that she noticed. "The attacks, the things that need to be fixed, the competition…" He trailed off, leaving Katara feeling a little strange. Like her stomach was being swirled about.

He took out his top knot, sighing. "Sometimes," he began, the word stretched out like he was still considering if he was going to continue with his next words. "Sometimes I wish it was all easier. That it was more normal."

It was very close to Katara's own thoughts. She swallowed hard. "What is normal, though?" she proposed, not wanting to let him wallow. "Zuko, you're extraordinary any way you look at it."

"You know what I mean. If I were normal, if we were...maybe you would have said yes."

The theory hung between them, as vast as the stars above. Zuko looked upset, like maybe he hadn't meant to have said it. Katara curled her knees to her chest.

"We're not, though," she replied a little too hotly, angry at the situation - not at Zuko - but unable to express it. "And maybe we would have never met at all or you wouldn't be proposing. Maybe we would just 'be'. Maybe you'd be married to Mai or Yue by now," Katara also threw out. "Maybe we should be happy with what we have. And I didn't say no completely. I'm still here. It just wasn't the right...time."

She hated giving him hope like that, but it killed her to see those sad puppy-dog eyes turned her way. And it was 'time', for lack of a better word. Time to figure things out, time to have him pick someone else, time for Ozai to mysteriously bite the bullet (one could hope). Time for any number of impossible things to happen.

Zuko gave a laugh, one that was a little more lighthearted than Katara expected. "Kat...I would give you anything in the world if you asked. You want a diamond as big as your face? I'll have the Earth Bending Brigade dig up every rock if they have to. You want a falling star? I'd go to the end of the earth and learn off the edge to grab it as it passes. You want clothes made from the finest silk in the country? I'd make you a whole room full of it. The one thing you ask of me, time," he added with a slight grimace, "is the one thing I fear we do not have."

"I know," Katara whispered to herself, feeling awful for asking it of him. He caught her face and rubbed his palm over her cheek, sighing.

"But, because you want it, I will give as much as I can," he added. "And I will do it happily."

"You're far too good of a person, Zuko," Katara murmured, kissing his fingertips. Zuko let out a quiet groan and took his hands away. Katara was worried she'd done or said something wrong, until he grabbed her and pulled her up into a kiss. It was a slow one, and she felt her whole body light up as she relaxed into it.

After much too short of a time, Zuko pulled away. Katara found herself following forward, wanting more.

"This is probably a bad idea," Zuko said quietly, his breath hot against her neck. Katara wasn't sure if he was referring to taking the kiss farther or the simple truth that kissing on a roof probably was bound to end in a broken bone somewhere.

"Yeah," Katara agreed to both counts.

"Prince Zuko!" The guard sounded close to having a heart attack. Zuko pinched his nose.

"I really must go. But we have things to talk about."

"We do?" Katara felt her heart thump. She thought it was all squared away. What did he mean? Was her position not as secure as she thought. Was-?

"Yes, we haven't had a time for all of us to come together and truly discuss the fact that many people are in on Kuzon's secret."

Oh, right. Yes. The issue that was much bigger than their own confusing emotions.

"So," Zuko continued, "Can you get everyone to the kitchen tonight? I'll bring Kuzon. We need to all be on the same page."

"Of course," Katara agreed, pushing down her childish glee she'd see him again tonight. "In three hours or so?"

Zuko leaned forward and gave her a small peck on her cheek, a domestic gesture that was so unexpected. "Until then."

Then, he disappeared over the side of the roof.

XXxxXX

 _Come on, boy, you need to memorize this! Knowing military positions of the past will help you in your future endeavors_.

"I'm trying, Gopan, but not all of us were librarians and scholars our whole lives," Aang murmured, flipping back to the last place in the book that he recalled absorbing information from. Which was, he was horrified to find, pretty far back.

 _Technically, you were_.

"Thank you, Yangchen. I can always count on you to state the obvious." Aang rolled his eyes, propping his elbow on the long table to support his head as he blinked wearily.

_I say you've been hanging around too much with my grandson. Zuko's sarcasm has been rubbing off on you._

"You know what?" Aang snapped, standing and rubbing his eyes. "This would be a whole lot easier if all of you just-"

"Oh, ah, are you busy?" Aang spun on his heels to find Ty Lee staring unexpectedly into the library, looking around. "I heard you talking to someone…" she said.

"Lady Ty Lee." Aang fumbled to bow to her, and suspiciously, all the voices in his head went quiet. At least for a second.

Ty Lee chuckled behind a hand. "I think I'm supposed to bow to you, Master Kuzon. You're part of the Royal Family, after all." Her eyes glimmered with mirth, since obviously, she now knew he wasn't truly.

"I wasn't talking to anyone, not really. I was just…" He lifted the title of the tome,  _Historical Victories and Militant Accomplishments,_  for Ty Lee to see, giving a weak smile. "Doing some homework, I guess."

"Sounds, uh, exciting."

"No, it's really not." With a decisive flip of the cover, he closed the book, forever losing the page he'd been on. This got the attention of the past Avatars.

_The fate of the world rests on your hands-_

_She's a fine girl, child, but there are more important things to consider-_

_The Avatar can continue his family line in due time, but it's quite irresponsible-_

"Aang?" Ty Lee asked quietly, looking up at him.

"Sorry. I don't mean to be elsewhere, but my mind is a little full," he said.

"Prince Zuko mentioned something about that. I can see it in your eyes, all your past lives fighting for their voice to be heard," she said, gazing at him with a thoughtful hum to her voice.

"You can see it?"

"It clouds your true self. It's muddy. It must be difficult, I'd imagine, to know what parts of you are you and what parts are your past lives," she said, raising a philosophical question that Aang had battled with many times. He was surprised that Ty Lee offered such a thought, since any intelligent ideas she may have had were usually overshadowed by Mai or Azula. She'd never been dumb, though, he realized. She'd always stayed near the top of the Royal Lessons and picked up on theories and equations quickly.

"I guess I'm all of them and none of them, all at once," Aang said. He rubbed his head. Avatar Suluk was arguing with the seated group that Aang should be allowed a moment of fancy, since he realistically couldn't be saving the world every minute of every day. Kyoshi was arguing that he'd have plenty of time for that after, and that every moment he wasn't focused on the war at hand was a moment he was losing. And Kuruk, poor Kuruk, was just in the corner all weepy about his lost love, reminiscing that Ty Lee's smile reminded him of his late wife.

"Arguing again?" Ty Lee guessed when he dazed out for just a moment.

"Yeah."

"Here, lemme just…" She leaned around, and Aang jumped as she touched the back of his neck. He laughed uneasily as she let him settle back down. She rubbed a spot just where his neck met the spinal cord. There was a strange feeling, like he'd shocked himself, and then it was still. It wasn't painful as much as it was a shock, a minor discomfort that only lasted a moment.

All of a sudden, it was just silent in his brain. Not the silence in which no one was talking for a rare moment, but a silence like he had before the attack, when his brain had been his own.

"What did you do?" he asked in absolute awe.

"I had a theory," Ty Lee shrugged, leaning back onto a cushy chair, "That your connections to the Avatars were using spiritual chi. I can block chi. I mean, fill in the blanks from there." She laughed her bell-like laugh, which Aang had always found so enchanting.

"Great Agni, it's incredible!" Aang let out a sharp laugh, almost unbelieving. "I can't...spirits, Ty Lee!"

"It will wear off in about two hours, I think. I mean, I can teach you how to do it. You probably shouldn't do it all the time, but every once in a while shouldn't be too bad. Just until you get it under control," she said.

Aang opened his mouth to nearly argue 'but I like it when you did it', and he waited for the onslaught of Avatars telling him otherwise. Blessedly, none came.

"You okay?" Ty Lee asked worriedly. "No weird side effects from it? Oh, Agni, I didn't muck it up did I-"

"Ty Lee, hey." Aang leaned across the table. "Really. Thanks," he said. "I'm just not used to it, that's all."

Ty Lee relaxed. She sent him a smile that made him feel a little dizzy. "Anything for you, Aang."

XXxxXX

Zuko shuffled through the files profiling each Choice contestant on his desk. He flipped half-heartedly through the top five or so, wondering if his emotions had shifted enough to change his personal ranking system. While he'd done some real soul-searching and changed around a lot of the order in the past week or so, the number one seed had stayed the same.

Katara, as always.

He leaned back in his chair, just on the edge of tipping it, recalling the moment he'd claimed with Katara on the roof. He'd slipped away from the guard for some 'personal time' and had gotten sorely reprimanded afterwards, since a missing Prince in light of recent events was never a good thing.

Agni, it was worth it though.

The image in his mind of Katara lapping up that sauce with no idea how she was affecting him would both be the bane of his existence and his most satisfying memory for weeks to come, if that was all the time he was going to get with her. And, frankly, if she'd asked, Zuko would have gone farther.

Putting them in a precarious position on the roof hadn't been his plan, but it had worked out in the favor of the situation.

A part of Zuko, though, also was angry at himself. If the situation demanded it and Katara truly could not be budged on her opinions, Zuko was going to walk out of this married. And, with the little time he had, he should be spending quality time with the other girls, seeing if any of them could fit so perfectly the way he knew Katara would with him. Instead, what was he doing? Giving everything away to Katara and falling deeper in love with her than he thought possible, putting distance - mile upon mile - between Katara and even his second choice.

"I'm an idiot," he murmured out loud, feeling another migraine creeping up.

"Yes, but what else is new."

Zuko snapped his eyes open, slammed his chair back onto the ground, and hastily threw his arms over the files. He glared at Azula, who sat on the edge of his desk, perched while she enjoyed a piece of chocolate she'd chipped off his personal supply, looking almost bored. She'd slipped in without him even hearing.

At his murderous gaze and the way he hoarded the papers to his chest, Azula snickered. "Spirits, you're so...dramatic. You think I haven't seen your little ranking of the girls?"

"Azula-" Zuko growled warningly.

"Oh, I won't tell a soul," she said, going back in for another piece of chocolate. "A lady's honor," she said, crossing her heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"One, you're a lady? Two, you have no honor. Three, you have no heart," Zuko said, leaning back, but still shuffling the files into his lap, just in case.

"Sibling honor then." Azula shrugged, unconcerned. "It's nothing anyone couldn't guess. It would do you good to be a little less transparent."

"Are you here just to lecture me on something you know nothing about?" Zuko asked, standing up with the full intention to drag his sister out of his room.

"You think I want to be here?" Azula gave him a long side-glance. "Zuzu, I'm here for you." She flaunted a scroll around, which she had pulled from her lap. "This, dear brother, is the exact set of rules the ladies have gotten on Father's little scrimmage. Caecillia got the sages to write it down and sign it. I think you should move her higher up frankly, she's got something there. She should be at least above On Ji, who has the disposition of a kitten." Azula made a face like she'd just seen a bug.

"Most people enjoy kittens," Zuko said, not surprised that Azula actually did know the order he had the girls in currently, just honestly a little tired.

"Mhh. Still. I mean, you can really see that good military training coming through. She's precise, she's not too much of a beauty, but makeup can fix anything, and she's a girl who doesn't like surprises," Azula said out loud.

"How do you know about her background?" Zuko furrowed his eyebrows. Caecillia didn't like talking about it much, and Zuko was under the impression that it was a carefully guarded fact.

"Well, I read it in her entry bio, of course." Azula laughed like it was obvious. "Oh, you think I haven't vetted each and every girl too?" she said at Zuko's surprised expression. "I mean, this is going to be my sister, so I wanted a hand in wading through the thousands of applications that were went in. Father was all too happy to agree."

The idea that Azula, in any way, had been instrumental in bringing the girls in that had arrived sickened him. That she knew them in the slightly intimate way that their bios had given, all had to be laid out, so there would be no nasty surprises like a hidden child or a history of arrests. It felt like an invasion of their privacy on some level, because he'd been under the impression that only his father and the Sages had seen the applications.

A part of this made sense, though. It's how Azula knew how to get under each girl's skin so easily.

A slim smile crept on his face.

"What?" Azula narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Nothing," Zuko chuckled. There was one girl Azula had a preoccupation with to the point of mania: Katara. But, Katara had been a last moment find, a bargaining chip, and so she didn't have an application. All the things in her file were accumulated after the fact, as stories were published and documents were charted. Azula couldn't glean information beforehand, she had to take what was thrown at her like everyone one else. No wonder Azula was so consistently frustrated with Katara.

But, Zuko doubted Katara could be summarized in a simple bio, anyway.

"Is that all?" Zuko said, slipping the scroll to his own lap. "Or, are you just going to sit here and eat my entire chocolate stash? You could also just get your own like that." Zuko snapped his fingers.

"Ah, but it is a universal truth that chocolate is much better tasting from your sibling given unwillingly," Azula said, taking the last piece and hopping off his desk. She left without a closing remark, and Zuko considered that if the price he had to pay for an unexpected visit from his sister was just his chocolate, he'd gotten off easy.

He was about to put the bios back in the locked drawer that he usually kept them in, but in light of Azula's taunts, he hesitated. He shifted them between two or three places, finally settling on his pillowcase.

And, his pillowcase reminded him of another obligation. He patted his chest, still feeling the journal there, and fished the wrapped fabric ball of poison dust from a deep trunk.

The night waited.

XXxxXX

The store-room felt cramped with the whole group sitting around. Shoji, in the corner, was yawning into his helmet. It was past his time off, and usually he'd be sleeping, had this not been of such importance. Aiga was leaning against a wall, looking a little tired too. The handmaids had been doing double the work with helping the palace staff repair anything that needed fixing if they were available, as such was their extended jobs. Ty Lee was in the corner, sitting on a sack of potatoes, but her leg was bouncing up and down. Toph and Sokka were milling around, just...waiting.

Everyone was just waiting.

The door opened to the kitchen and everyone jumped, as though all six of them would fit behind sacks and shelves if someone other than the Prince were to arrive. Luckily, Aang came first, followed by Zuko. He very firmly closed the door behind him and Shoji stepped forward to light a lantern Zuko had brought with him.

By the light of the flickering flame, the eight all sat in a circle, unsure of where to begin.

"We need a name." Sokka broke the silence. "Something cool, something snazzy."

"How about 'Let's Not Get Killed For Treason' and make this quick," Shoji offered, glancing nervously at Zuko. Katara saw him give a slight smirk, but Shoji's joke revealed a very ugly truth.

The knowledge they all had could not only get Aang killed, but could cause each of them in turn to die a horrible, horrible death.

"We need to make some rules, be telling the same story." Zuko took charge, since he was the one who gathered them. Katara got the sense he had taken it upon himself to be the unofficial leader, but he was still trying not to step on Aang's toes. Avatar trumped future Fire Lord, Katara guessed. He was glancing at Aang every so often, trying to read the cues of the sixteen-year-old.

Aang just looked overwhelmed.

He'd gone from having no one in his corner to seven people, but at the same time, not much to do with it.

"Okay, but what about the death dust?" Sokka held up a finger. "Where's that?"

Zuko placed a ball of fabric in the center of the circle. Meaning to or not meaning to, everyone flinched back at least an inch. Sokka scooted back a full foot, shaking his head in a clear 'don't you dare get that near me' sort of way.

"We need to get rid of it," Aiga whispered. "Soon. The journal too."

"We need to move it to somewhere not in the palace. I don't trust people," Sokka agreed. "Er, sorry Zuko."

"No, none taken." Zuko raised an eyebrow. "I don't either, most days. I don't trust anyone outside this circle anymore, if I'm being honest." And, though maybe he didn't want to say it, his list of people he trusted might be even smaller, Katara wondered.

"Well, it's probably safest with Sparky, eh?" Toph shrugged. "I mean, until we can get out of the palace."

"I don't know." Zuko scowled. "I learned today that my sister has been snooping in my stuff. If she were to see this…" He swallowed hard.

"I don't think I could. Between my training and the meetings with the family, I undress and redress twelve times a day it seems," Aang bemoaned.

"I'm blind," Toph said, which was in itself a good enough reason.

"The guards can search our rooms anytime," Aiga twittered nervously.

"And the guards don't have their own room," Shoji sighed.

"Well...I guess I could," Sokka said, realizing the options were limited.

"I'm not sure. I mean, we don't want this falling into the wrong hands, obviously. Keeping one person on it seems bad, strategy wise," Katara said, something that no one else had brought up.

"I should be the one." Aang shook his head. "It's mine. This stuff is about me, when it comes down to it, and my legacy."

"Which is why you shouldn't!" Ty Lee broke in, looking horrified. "Aang, we're expendable. You, the Avatar, you're not."

The idea that the rest of the group was 'expendable' had Aang looking ill.

"Maybe we all share the burden," Zuko sighed. "Yes, even you Toph," he added when she opened her mouth. "Switch off every day. Until I can get us out of the city, or even a small group of us. And split it up, minimize the fallout."

"How soon will that be?" Shoji ran his fingers through his hair.

"I wish I had an answer," Zuko said rather honestly. "In the meantime, no one congregate in a group larger than three of you at one time. No reason to give anyone suspicions. No one talks about it. No one uses code-words or whatever to refer to it, because you're probably not half as smart as you think you are. Also, does anyone speak Old Nomadic?"

"I studied first lessons of it," Ty Lee spoke up. "But I don't recall much."

Everyone else basically just looked at Zuko rather blankly. Katara had never even heard of it before now.

"Great," Zuko sighed. "You're going to start learning it. It's a dead language, which means no one knows it. That's how, if we really have to, we can communicate about anything involving us or him or the book." Zuko held up the journal. They'd discussed just burning it at the palace, but if any pages were to be seen, or survive, or if someone were to find out what they were doing, having seen the smoke...as dangerous as it was to have it intact, it wasn't worth risking it yet.

"Yes, sir." Toph saluted him. "I don't know anything about anything."

"Lose the sarcasm, keep the idea," Zuko instructed, holding back a groan.

"I'll take one first," Sokka said when no one moved to leave the room nor take the items. "Tui and La, protect me," he murmured to himself, gathering the power wrapped in fabric delicately in his arms. There was another pause, and no one moved again.

"Fine, I'll take the journal." Katara finally said.

"Water Tribe coming in clutch," Sokka raised his hand to high-five it. Katara gave a low, angry scowl.

"Right, we should scatter," Shoji suggested, "or else people are going to notice our absence, and more than that, our combined absences."

"True. Dismissed, uh, team."

"See? We need a cool name." Sokka said.

"For a club that's not supposed to exist?" Ty Lee tilted her head. "Might be better it doesn't?"

"When it requires a cool name, we'll get a cool name," Zuko said with slight aggravation. "Now, seriously. Scat, all of you. Shoo. No, not all at once." Zuko dragged a hand over his face as everyone went right to the door. "Hasn't anyone a lick of espionage in them?"

"Right, um. Maybe those two first." Sokka laughed nervously, and Katara knew he felt stupid since he was smarter than that. He was pointing at Aang and Shoji, who had reason to be seen together. "Then Katara and Aiga." Katara was a little disheartened to not have a chance to catch Zuko alone again, but it made sense. "Then...where's Toph?"

"Already gone, I think. Through the ground." Shoji pointed below his feet. Sokka scowled.

"Fine, for the best, I guess. Uh, Ty Lee after, then me, then Zuko. Sound good?" He looked at Zuko. The prince shrugged, not seeing a flaw with it. Aang and Shoji ducked out first, and then, after a respectable amount of time, Aiga tugged on Katara's arm.

Katara slipped back into her bed, and it seemed no one was none the wiser.

XXxxXX

Aang took a deep breath outside the doors to Zhao's suites.

The conversation last night in the small and cramped store room had put a lot of things into perspective for Aang, most notably, that many people were willing to practically go to war for an Avatar who, so far, hadn't done anything to earn their trust or their loyalty.

All the years before, since he had moved into the Palace, it was so easy to tell himself that this was the way to fix things, by learning the Palace language and becoming one of them, so that when he pulled the rug out, no one would be any wiser. And Zuko having his back and teaching him this world, telling him he'd surely be killed if he came forward with his true identity, doing so much to keep his secret a secret...well, it would have felt dishonorable to spit on all that the young Prince had done.

But now he couldn't pretend any longer. Even if the voices were not in his head reminding him daily, the world had forced its hand.

The Avatar's return was whispered. Airbenders were on the rise, just as the horrible monsters who killed them the first time were peeling themselves up from the ground.

Aang paused, tilting his eyes upward as the Avatars mumbled in his mind.

Ty Lee's trick had given him nearly six blessed hours of peaceful mental space that was all his own. After, however, the Avatars had returned to his mind groggy and disoriented. They sounded as though they were drunk, like they'd all gone out for a grand ball and returned worse for the wear.

Aang had gotten drunk once, and he had hated it.

Passing himself off as a vegetarian in the palace wasn't hard. With all the fruits and veggies they imported from Earth Kingdom, there was a growing faction that only ingested leafy green things, as compared to meat. And, if he was being honest, the Fire Nation had more to offer a vegetarian than the Air Temples even had. Refusing alcohol, however? Silly to say, but that would have blown his cover.

So, Aang drank in small quantities, when it was appropriate. It had been early into his guise as Kuzon when Zuko had given him a little too much and the pair had gotten roaring drunk. Aang didn't really remember much about that night, but it was enough to know that he never wanted to get that way again.

He was getting side-tracked, though.

"Can you take over, Kasata?" he whispered. "I can't do it without you…"

Lately, Aang always felt like he was fighting for headspace, for his own voice to be the most present one. It was always a battle. It was only when there were no voices around, and Aang had just sat on his bed and thought about it, that he considered maybe there was a way to release his own dominant voice and let one of the other Avatars take over. They were loud enough and boisterous enough to tell Aang that they had full personalities, each and every one of them. And, they'd retained all their memories from past lives. While Aang could tap into the knowledge base containing all of Gopan's musings on bird migrations or Kyoshi's lessons on fan fighting, to actually use it was something entirely different, that often Aang fell short on.

But, maybe, if he allowed a different, specific Avatar to use his body as a conduit for just a moment…

Now, more than ever, he needed Kasata, one of the previous Fire Nation Avatars, to help him. Kasata, who had dealt his whole life with two-headed snakes like Zhao and was raised with the military in his bones. Avatar Roku was just too kind, and there was no room for kindness in these matters.

Aang needed Zhao to trust him. He needed Zhao to see him as his apprentice and take him everywhere there were airbender sightings, so Aang could finally do something. He didn't know what, but something. He needed to be able to be as ruthless as Zhao and not let his emotions override him.

"Please, if you can, now would be the time." Aang screwed his eyes shut and knocked twice on the door.

For a moment, it seemed like Kasata especially was silent, and Aang feared he'd be standing in front of the terrifying man and start blubbering incoherently. Then, it was like someone had just...shoved his consciousness back a couple paces. Aang could see exactly what was happening, but he found he couldn't move his arms or legs. He was just a voice, thoughts, floating in nowhere while someone else puppeted his body.

"Now you know how we feel," Kasata said out loud. It was Aang's voice, Aang's own lips moving, but the way he spoke was no longer his own, replaced by Kasata's curt and sharp tone. It was unmistakable and more than a little eerie.

The door swung open. Zhao blinked at the young student in front of him for a second, unable to hid his surprise to find Aang standing outside his door.

"Master Kuzon, or...should I call you Guardsman Kuzon? Which do you prefer?" he said, his voice calm as though it was a simple question.

 _It's anything but_ , Kyoshi murmured, and Aang could only agree from his backseat position. Luckily, Kasata knew exactly how to navigate it.

"Guardsman, if I must. I'll respond to either. Service has been different, eye-opening. Alas, I feel guilt for not signing up previously." Even if he had supposive guilt, his words were delivered an with even-tempered drawl, something nearing emotionlessness.

"What kept you, if I may ask?" Zhao turned his gaze down on Aang. Not on him, per se, but down as he straightened to appear taller.

"Many things. It was never quite so necessary. I was a little older than Royal Family members usually are when they begin, and I also wanted to get to know the Palace before diving in. Know what I was protecting."

"And now it's necessary?"

Kasata laughed, but it was neither warm nor full of humor. "As you said, Commander Zhao, it is a dangerous time we enter." He paused, waiting. When Zhao did not invite him in, he continued, "I came to apologize. The other day, I may have seemed a little unwelcoming toward the idea of bringing me into such an important campaign. I did not mean to sound ungrateful. I was just surprised that anyone would consider me important enough to be considered, because I am, after all, a distant cousin." Something about Kasata seemed so sincere it made Aang feel sick. He was playing it perfectly though, because Zhao seemed to relax. Just a millimeter, but it was something.

"Guardsman Kuzon, Ozai is fond of you, and his son even more so. You are family, you do realize. Blood is terribly important," Zhao said, like he was teaching a lesson.

"I do realize. I wanted to come to express my gratitude in person that you'd consider me for this. I want to make sure that I am still considered a candidate to join you," Kasata continued.

Zhao blinked. "Ozai is very firm, so there was never a question. However, I am pleased you are showing such a renewed interest."

"These airbenders are a danger to us all, sir. As you said, this is my family, and I will do anything to keep them safe. I was more surprised we weren't leaving immediately. If you would be so kind, I would be honored to learn under your tutelage."

There was a pause, but then, Zhao smiled. It was just as awful as it usually was, but now, Aang saw it was genuine, and that made it worse.

"Guardsman Kuzon, I see a great deal of myself in you."

That's all he said, before closing the door.

Aang suddenly sagged as he felt Kasata lose the grip of the reins on his body.

"What's that mean?" Aang whispered, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Kasata sounded apologetic.

 _It means he's accepted you. You're going to be his new student, he's going to groom you to be a monster_.

 _It is the way we will win._ , Roku assured Aang, who felt ill to hear Kasata confirm such horrors. Aang felt nothing rise up his stomach, like before. He was then even more disgusted that he wasn't going to vomit after all was said and done.

As he walked back to his chambers, legs feeling like lead, he couldn't help but think that in the pursuit of peace, he'd just signed his life to the war. That while he was trying to wipe clean the slate of the world, he was going to end up with a blackened heart. One for the many, he whispered to himself, one for the many. He felt like this was a sudden insight, and he'd just stepped over from childhood to what it meant to be an adult Avatar. Even if he realized this, he hated it.

Roku's long sigh was cryptic.

_We all must sometimes do terrible, terrible things to make things good. But the worst travesty is that one day, this will fail to make you ill like it once had._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Aang! And my poor Zutara babies. One order of pining, coming right up!
> 
> I have only two little notes.
> 
> When Zuko and Kat are comparing stars, they're actually looking at the Pleiades! Their versions are real life constellation equivalents, Inuit and Japanese ones.
> 
> I also sorta consider what Aang's doing at the end to be like in the show Sense8, if you guys watch that, where like other people can 'hack' into his mind to use their specific skills. I will forever be salty they cancelled that show.
> 
> As always, remember to review!


	5. Chapter 5

Katara hit the dusty floor of the training ground, her chin smacking against the ground. She tasted copper in her mouth and reached a finger up to feel a small cut on her lip where her tooth had gnashed against her mouth.

"If that's the best you can do, Fire Lord Ozai will send you back to the Southern Water Tribe in a Pai Sho tile box," Master Pakku said dismissively. Katara felt the aching in her bones and stood, despite how much she wanted to remain on the ground just a few moments longer. Her bones felt like jelly and her whole body quivered, but deep down she knew Pakku was correct. If she went up against Ozai or Azula in the competition, at this stage of her training, she would hardly last past a minute. She needed to train. She needed to be ready.

Pakku turned back around, his head tilting as he watched Katara steady herself. She ran her thumb over her forehead, gathering the sweat that pooled there, and pressed it to her lip for just a second. Not long enough to heal it completely, but enough to stop the bleeding, clot the blood, and encourage the start of scabbing.

"Again," Katara asked, her voice rough.

Katara was pleased when Pakku looked at her with approval.

"You have the fortitude of a warrior." Pakku nodded to her, pleasure in his quirk of a smile. "At least, for now."

Pakku held little back. Of this, Katara was eternally grateful. She didn't need someone like Zuko, who was worried about hurting her all the time, she needed a teacher that was honest with her about the brutality of Agni Kais, or other matches she might go up against in the future.

She only had to bother Pakku about eighteen times before he caved, giving their first lesson a little over three days ago. He'd declared Katara not completely incompetent, which for a girl was an over-the moon compliment, and said they'd meet daily until the competition. Katara was thrilled.

She learned very quickly that while Pakku was indeed a master of his bending, his teaching style was unexpected. It was complete, and Katara felt like she'd gleaned more from him than she would have gotten by herself in years of fumbling, but a straightforward teacher he was not.

What he preferred to do was scrimmage and have Katara watch him to copy his movements mid-battle, to take the information and internalize it. There had been no 'step one, step two, step three' and so on about how to produce a proper water whip, and he hadn't started out by seeing what Katara already knew. He only ever stepped in to correct a stance if Katara was really and truly failing, but he almost never said anything otherwise.

The first day, he'd had a comment. "You fight like an untrained penguin-seal. Your movements are hardly graceful, and you attack like someone is going to steal your last leg of meat."

He'd said it with a such a pretentious sneer that Katara couldn't help but take offense.

"Well, I've never had a teacher," she'd snapped back. "Everything I've learned I've done myself, so if you have a problem with it-"

"I never said it was a bad thing." Pakku had cut her off with a smirk. As Katara had been left with her jaw hanging open, trying to figure out what this meant, he'd simply moved on.

Three days in, Katara wasn't sure she completely understood, but she thought maybe she was starting to get the idea. While there was a grace and perfection to the way that Pakku waterbended, Katara's movements were unexpected and hard to predict. He'd shown her this when he'd begun to use Katara's own movements against her. Katara had been waiting for the proper waterbending moves, and though she recognized the hobbled-together foot dance of her own style, she was still unprepared to face it. When Pakku had knocked her off her feet (a phenomenon that was happening a lot lately) and she'd gotten back up with a grin, she knew that Pakku realized she 'got it'.

He was a man of few words, other than drawled jabs. She could appreciate this. Every insight she herself made just made her feel so much more adept, since Pakku had yet to spell out anything for her.

"Well, again," Katara said when Pakku did not move for a moment. She was about to start this herself, until a strike set her off balance. She managed to freeze it, wiggling out of the way, and sent the icy sphere back at Pakku. All of this took place within a second, as this was a high-paced spar they took part in.

Back and forth it went. Pakku never went easy on Katara, especially not when she was hurt. In fact, he seemed to up his game even more. Or maybe Katara was just utterly exhausted? Yes, it could be that too.

It went on for what seemed like eons, but was likely hardly longer five minutes, until Katara was knocked flat on her ass once again. At least nothing was bleeding this time.

She got up, despite her feet swaying beneath her.

"Again," she nearly begged.

"No," Pakku said with a cool tone. "We meet again tomorrow around-"

Katara threw a water whip at him. He managed to deflect it easily. She was just trying to get his attention anyway, so she wasn't upset that he was able to just wave it off.

"I can still go," Katara insisted firmly, wiping her hair back from her face.

"Maybe so," Pakku said, sighing, "But exhaustion makes mistakes. Part of being a warrior is continuing to fight under the worst of circumstances, but being a better warrior is knowing when to stop."

"I'm not too good at that," Katara said, crossing her arms, but readying herself for a sneak attack. Pakku saw her stiff posture and almost smiled.

"I can see that. Truly, Princess, we are done for the day. Go do whatever frivolous things princesses do. Bathe in rose water. Eat a good meal. Go to sleep early in a bed made of goose feathers."

While it sounded like a list of insults, Katara almost guessed he was encouraging her to take care of herself. Of course, Pakku couldn't be caught caring, especially not about a female warrior.

Letting her guard down just a little - but never fully - she walked over to the water bins where they summoned their weapons from. She splashed the cool water onto her cheeks, thinking that maybe a nice hot bath did sound like just the ticket. Oh, yes, food too. They were serving some peppered steak tonight, if Toph's information was correct. As there was nothing Toph loved more than food, usually it was.

She blended the water off her face and turned toward where her accessories lay on the bleachers to see Pakku holding up her grandmother's necklace, a soft look on his face, far softer than she'd ever seen on him.

Ever since Zuko had used her necklace for his proposal, Katara had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it did make the jewelry so much more meaningful. However, whenever she thought about wearing it, she just got a dull ache as she remembered she'd turned him down. She found herself unable to wear it, at least in his vicinity, but also unable to let it out of her sight ever again. Thus, there it had laid, waiting for her to finish.

"I'm glad I didn't have to write to my grandmother and tell her you still are refusing to train me. I think she would have sailed back across the sea to make you." Katara didn't know where it came from, to talk about her grandmother, but the words just tumbled out.

"I don't doubt it." Pakku still hadn't put down the necklace. "You and she are very much alike. In more than just your face," he mused. "She was far too headstrong for her own good."

"Or just so. Maybe too headstrong for your good," Katara said, which she wouldn't have said if Pakku wasn't so blunt back to her most of the time. She got the feeling that Pakku was a man who appreciated honesty.

"I suppose." Pakku finally put the necklace down. "The world seems to think of me a cosmic joke. Training the granddaughter of the woman I loved. And, despite a rocky start, a waterbender with so much potential. One that makes me wonder…" He tilted his head.

"What your children would have been like?" Katara finished with a low chuckle. "What kind of waterbending masters they would have become?"

"Perhaps. In all, it's a shame your grandfather could not have lived to teach you. I've heard it's easier to teach family. Perhaps he would have been able to put up with your stubbornness, even found it enchanting."

Katara blinked once. "Waterbending? He wasn't a bender," she said.

Pakku frowned. "And your father was not, nor your mother?" he asked.

"Nope. I thought I told you, I'm the first waterbender in, well, since GranGran's childhood friend left for Iroh's choice. But, even then, there weren't a lot of us." Katara rubbed her arms.

"Impossible, child. Bending is obviously an inherited trait. Just look at the Royal Family," Pakku scoffed.

Katara shrugged uncertainty. Once, this very question had bothered her, but it was something she hadn't thought of in a long time. Bringing up it now seemed pointless. She was a waterbender who was learning and all, what really else mattered? She once thought it was a dormant gene, lying around the people of her tribe, but she did find it strange that no other children in her generation were waterbenders, if that was true.

"There has to be a waterbender in your tribe, some blood line-" Pakku was continuing on.

"I don't know," Katara snapped at him. "What I do know is that most of the refugees that left the Northern Water Tribe to form our society weren't benders, and back when things were good, even then, there was only about eight benders and most died out before I was even born. Does this even matter?"

Pakku blanched a bit. "No, I suppose not.," he murmured after a moment. "Knowing one's lineage, with bending, can sometimes shed light on how powerful a person's to become. It could have told me how far I could push you, how much training you can take. If it's even worth it to prepare you for a battle, if you are always going to lose it."

"I think that's bull," Katara said, and then blushed at Pakku's stern expression. "Sorry, that's just not true. Excuse my language. Neither of Toph's parents nor any of her grandparents were benders. She was taught by badger-moles, and she's the strongest Earthbender I know."

"She was taught from the original masters, of course she's powerful," Pakku dismissed.

"But if she didn't have it in her, it wouldn't have mattered," Katara stressed.

There was a beat of silence. Katara wondered, after all that, if Pakku was just fishing for information about Gran Gran. Had she gone off and married a someone just like Pakku, or had she found the polar opposite of him? Katara didn't know what happened with them after the revelation in the garden, but she couldn't say she wasn't horribly curious.

How could her grandmother have loved such a man once? She knew she loved him, from the way Gran Gran's eyes had been sad. There was a startling realization that his gruffness reminded Katara very much so of someone close to her...of Zuko. Was this what Zuko was destined to be without Katara? Spirits, she hoped not. However, it seemed Pakku never remarried, whereas Zuko would be taking the hand of another lady.

"Maybe there's something to be said. They always said my father would have been a bender, in a different life. He was born on the Winter Solstice, when the moon is in the sky the longest."

"I know what the Solstice is, my child," Pakku grumped.

"Right. Well, Gran Gran had only been in the tribe less than a year, arriving that past end of winter and married the current chief not soon after, so they said it solidified my father's future as a leader."

Pakku squinted. "Don't you mean she arrived in the summer? Right after the Summer Solstice?"

"I know my family history," Katara retorted hotly, not liking the tone Pakku was taking.

"Child, she could not have arrived before the Summer Solstice, for she left on the first day of the celebrations at the North. I was set to marry her on the third day. You think I wouldn't recall the day she just vanished into the night?" From the anguish in his tone, Katara knew that he couldn't be lying. Or, at least, he had convinced himself of this. "Perhaps your father was born later. Or he was a premature child."

"Well, then the whole story about the moon wouldn't make any sense, would it? And I've delivered babies; I know what an early child looks like. They raved about how big my father was too, so there's no way, unless he's a god on earth," Katara said, trying to keep as much sarcasm out as possible.

Pakku frowned. "Then, Princess, something is not adding up."

Katara was smart enough to realize this too, however she wasn't sure how to reconcile it.

"Well." She licked her lips. "I mean, logically she had to arrive late winter, to have my father near nine moons later, so…" The answer was on the tip of her tongue, but she could not put it together.

Pakku, however, turned abruptly and began walking away.

"Hey, are we done?" Katara called, but from the urgency in his steps, Katara doubted he could hear her. He always set up their next lesson, so for him to forget was very unlike him. Something was plaguing his mind, something that made him abandon all other pursuits.

Katara put her dress back on and walked through the palace in a near daze, forehead burrowed in deep thought. She arrived at Sokka's door, shaking her head half in awe, half in disbelief. She knocked twice, but he did not answer.

This sharpened her mind. She knocked again. "Sokka, I know you're in there, I can see your shadow moving under the door." She rolled her eyes. "I'm coming in, in one...two…"

Sokka hastily opened the door, sliding himself to the other side of it. He shut it behind him, back pressed against the wood. "Hey, sis. Sup?"

"What's up with you?" Katara crossed her arms. "Oh, La, don't tell me you have, like, a handmaid in there with you, or a dignitary's daughter." Her face reddened at the obvious. His shirt was a little wrinkled and he seemed nervous. Plus, his breathing was short, like he'd been running. And, he was making a big deal of holding the door closed. Well, frankly, Katara didn't want to see a half or fully naked girl next to her brother, so perhaps she should be glad.

"No, not that." Sokka's neck was red, but he seemed to recoil at her suggestion. On another day, Katara would examine this more, but for right now she had something else on her mind.

"Sokka...I think Pakku might be our grandfather."

XXxxXX

"-and as you see here, smaller-sized Equalists were able to squeeze through this hole here, which seems to have been made over a long period of time."

Zuko ducked as he stepped into one of the mostly unused areas of the bottom of the palace, swatting away a cobweb. As his slippers walked over the ground, he kicked up a cloud of dust, causing him to sneeze.

The gathered group turned around: one of the repairmen, his father, Azula, and Lu Ten, who was standing a good foot away from Zuko's direct family.

"Zuko, how kind of you to join us." Ozai's voice was crawling with acerbic purrs. "That you would take time out of such a busy day to join us for this bothersome and insignificant moment. Since you were summoned an hour ago, I must only assume that you placed this farther down on your list than whatever you had been in the middle of. It's only our safety at stake, of course."

"I would have loved to join you, father." Zuko shivered only because of the chill from the air that whipped around the room. "Had I actually been informed."

"Well, perhaps you should be easier to find."

"I'm sure it was merely an oversight, Uncle. A harmless mistake." Lu Ten stepped in, trying to breathe evenly. Zuko snorted, doubtful, but he was glad for the backup.

"I only found out when a passing foot soldier told me of your location. Have I missed much?" He turned to look at the repairman who was practically sweating at the tension between the family.

 _Just an average day_ , Zuko wanted to tell him.  _It's Tuesday? Time to give Zuko a vague and slightly threatening comment. Oh, it's Wednesday? Time to remind Zuko of what a failure you think he is. A Friday? Guess what, it's Azula, vying for the throne, on time like clockwork. Speaking of Azula...don't look her way, Zuko._

From the way Azula was examining him, Zuko was sure if was her fault the message wasn't passed along, whether she had been told to do it herself or she'd threatened the person Ozai had instructed. Either way, she was probably looking for him to accuse her, and then she'd bat her big eyes at their father, and it would just lead to Ozai scoffing at Zuko. No, he wasn't going to give Azula that sort of satisfaction.

"Uhm, not much, your highness." The repairman bowed twice to Zuko. "I was just explaining that the holes that were made in locations like this that allowed the Equalists to get into the castle. As we fix the palace and find them, your father requested we keep tally of them…" He trailed off nervously.

"I've kept a log of them, Zuko, don't worry," Lu Ten said, relaxing now that his more favored cousin had arrived. Frankly, Zuko was glad that Lu Ten was there, too.

"As the Fire Lord, you should know these things, Zuko," Ozai said. Zuko was unsure if Ozai was offering a piece of advice for the future (unlikely) or scolding him for not magically knowing how hundreds of insurgents eked their way into the palace.

"If I could be in eight places at once, I would." Zuko gave an apologetic smile. "Which is why we have other people to do our work for us. Delegate, and read the reports, right?"

It was a tactic his father used very often. His father just hummed, folding his arms into his sleeves. "Continue," he told the repairman.

The next hour or so was spent with the repairman dragging them deeper into the underground palace, showing in the hidden corners all the ways a human could have slipped inside, and likely had. It was staggering, to be honest. They'd likely covered their holes with boxes or crates, making them inconspicuous, making them easy to pass by. There was no one and everyone to blame.

"We're, of course, sealing off any passageways found that are of this nature," The repairman said. "But that's just if we come across them. Unless you managed to capture one of these spooks and get them to fess up, sir-"

He looked down at his feet.

The palace was huge. There could be thousand more spots where they slithered in. They could be working on new ones now, knowing their plans were being fixed. It also gave the sense of familiarity of the palace, something that twisted Zuko's stomach deep within him. He looked at his father; he'd been non-reactionary toward this whole tour.

 _As if he already knew they were there._  Zuko furrowed his brows. It had been a passing theory with Katara before, but now Zuko was doubting his father more and more. As much as Zuko really hated his dad, was he ready to come to terms that his father might have brought such horrors upon the palace? To further his airbender-killing narrative? Maybe he'd known for ages that the Avatar, an airbender, had returned and he'd been planning this for months. It wasn't the most outlandish scenario.

So what would he do now?

"The flaws in the security must be dealt with," his father was saying as he led them back to a main hallway. "Zuko, you'll handle this," he said casually, nodding to him. It was an impossible task he was giving Zuko, because he'd continue to sneak more and more Equalists in, or he'd play it some other way.

"I have much going on with the Choice, father. Why don't you let Azula handle it?" he asked, because his sister had begun to pout at his father's decision. Azula brightened. She looked gleeful at the thought of this task, of killing trespassers, or torturing them, or something equally grim.

"Father, I will make any Equalists rue the day they were born, just you wait-"

"No," Ozai shot her down. "Zuko will be the Fire Lord one day. Security of the Palace is a Fire Lord's job, for it translates to how you protect your country."

"I understand that." Zuko breathed in hard. "But Azula is fairly free with her time. If this is such an important matter, someone who has the chance to give it their undivided attention should be at the helm."

Zuko sure as hell wasn't going to let his father puppet him around, not if he could help it. The look his sister gave him was one of awe; probably because he hadn't been on her 'team' for eons now. Plus, Azula was scary enough that maybe she was the sort of person who should be dealing with this.

"My word is final," Ozai said and when he turned his glare on him, Zuko couldn't help but flinch. "Is that clear? Azula is not to help."

"Father." Azula's voice was almost heartbreaking in a way. "You haven't allowed me the opportunity to do something meaningful in a while, and I just think…"

"You haven't been given a job in a while because you will be married off soon enough, Azula, for whatever political ally we decide worthy. It's worthless to have you start projects you will not finish. I perhaps have let you alone far too long, and you've become over-confident in your place here, as made obvious by your dissent toward your brother, the heir. I expected more decorum of you, but I see I was mistaken."

It was like Azula had been slapped in the face. She grew stony, cold. Zuko truly felt bad for Azula in that moment. Father had never been so short with her. Zuko was used to it, but Ozai had always had a soft spot for Azula, and Zuko couldn't recall a single time when he'd ever been so cruel to her.

"I see," Azula said, taking a step back. "I suppose in that case, father, I will take my leave." She turned around, her steps wobbling. Zuko wanted to go after her like he did when he was a child, ask if she was okay, risk a burn or two. However, his father's gaze fixed only on him kept him here.

"Have I made myself clear, son?"

 _I am no son of yours_ , Zuko wanted to snarl.  _you have always made me feel like a mistake, an embarrassment._

However, Zuko could not say that. So, he clenched his fists twice and nodded hard.

"First, I will choose my own generals to be in charge of the palace guards," Zuko said. The current generals were his father's, and Zuko didn't trust them, as they'd been in his father's back pocket since he was a young ruler.

"Only expected," his father said, more amiable to it than Zuko would have thought.

"I also want to bring Lady Bei Fong in, and give her free rein to anywhere in the palace. Get her expertise," he added.

His father frowned. "A contestant? A noblewoman? Whatever for?"

"Her blindness is unique in that she feels with her feet. While we see a wall here." Zuko knocked on the wallpapered hall. "She can feel all the rooms behind it. If there's passage that we missed, Lady Bei Fong will find it."

"Are you sure?" Ozai questioned.

"Yes," Zuko said immediately. Ozai was silent, but nodded.

"It's your call now. Stick to your choices." He patted Zuko's shoulder as he passed, such an unexpected gesture that Zuko couldn't help but startle. Was he trying to show pride? Trying to psyche Zuko out? He honestly couldn't tell. "Do not feel the need to inform me. You do have the power. Just record it in reports, should I feel the need to check in."

"Uncle Ozai never fails to make things go from bad to so much worse," Lu Ten said dryly when Ozai was out of earshot. Zuko had thought for sure his father would want to know all his movements to be able to counteract and aid the next Equalist attack. Maybe he had little birds everywhere, so it didn't matter?

He brushed that aside. Now he had this assignment, and it was hardly something he could shirk off. He had to do a good job. It would severely cut into his time with the ladies. Maybe that's what his father wanted, less time he could spend with Katara?

"Lu Ten, do you know where Admiral Jeong-Jeong and Lieutenant Jee are stationed?" Zuko turned to his cousin.

Lu Ten smiled, shaking his head.

"No, but I'm sure my dad does."

XXxxXX

The letter the Water Tribe siblings sent home had been re-written about six different times. They sat in the library, hunched over the scroll, nitpicking wording and smearing their fingers across the ink if they were displeased. If they'd been writing individually, the letter likely would have been much curter, much more 'Gran Gran, what the hell', but together they tempered each other until the letter seems much more polite. Then, they'd sent it off with a messenger hawk and waited.

"She might not even answer us," Sokka said, watching it fly away.

"If we know, Pakku knows. Cat's out of the bag," Katara pointed out. "Might as well come clean on her own now."

"Think Pakku would drag her through the snow like that?" Sokka frowned.

"No, but the one thing I've learned about secrets….when one person knows, it's a secret. As soon as more than one person knows, it's going to come out, eventually. It's inevitable."

"So what does that say about our secret?" Sokka rubbed his neck, eyes cast back toward the door, as though he could see all the way back to his room as he was one of the the 'persons of the day'. Katara had yet to have either items fall to her hands, which was for the best, as of right now.

"Well, it's not really a 'secret', because we want people to know about Kuzon, eventually. Gran Gran would have taken this to her grave, if she got the chance. We're just trying to prolong an omitted truth."

Sokka snorted.

"I guess I have to admire that about you. So full of hope, always." Sokka said, patting her head like she was a seal-cat.

"You don't have hope?"

Sokka weighed it. "I'm realistic. I hope for the best, but a good soldier has to be able to see every outcome. All the best, all the worst," he said, puffing out his chest.

After that, Sokka returned to his room. Katara had nearly forgotten that he may or may not have a woman in there, but she wasn't looking to find out. She returned to her own room. Or, her current space. 'Own' was possibly an overstatement.

As most of the girls' chambers had been utterly destroyed in the attack, and not just Katara's, it was unsuitable for them to return. Their bathhouses had been smashed, furniture had been burned, and their beautiful little garden was just a square of upturned earth and charred trees. The girls had been allowed, with a guard envoy, to go back one by one to save what could be saved, but the general idea was that they wouldn't be returning.

For the time being, they were all squished in barrack-like conditions. The ballroom had been used for overflow bedding, but pretty much the only people left were the contestants. They each were given a trunk to keep belongings in, but many didn't have enough to fill even one. There was a changing area, and they could use the bathrooms. A lot of girls stored items of importance in their handmaids' rooms. Some went as far as to displace their handmaids from their room and force them to sleep on the cots while they used the tiny servant's halls. Aiga had graciously offered, but Katara wouldn't hear it. She used the room just to sleep, anyway. Plus, even the rolling cots were more comfortable than the beds she had at home.

Zhi had tried to keep the group positive on their temporary space.

"You'll be getting bigger, better rooms soon, ladies," she had assured them. "We're not just going to place you in a generic guest room, because we are preparing the best for you all."

According to Mai, as Katara overheard, they moved rooms twice throughout the competition. They were supposed to have moved at 20 girls, but things had just gotten in the way. With that, luckily, they were closer to being done with the new suites as compared to not. When it was whittled down to just five left, they'd move again. These suites would be like small apartments inside the Royal Family's doors, and none would be too far from Zuko's room. Whoever won would retain their room at this point. Some ladies, like Ursa, used it as a personal sanctuary. Other winners who were less interested in love had historically remained living in there, only entering the Fire Lord's personal chambers to produce an heir.

Either way, they were promised that their time living like cattle in a small pen was coming to an end soon. Some girls, like Nadhari, asked Zhi every day if they'd be moving. Zhi always responded with a forced smile and said, "When the Royal Family deems it appropriate, dear," and then would usually follow up with an overly-cheery, "Patience is a virtue!" or similar mantra.

Inevitably, little pockets of beds had begun to form, little clusters of girls who shoved their beds into groups.

"It's just like a sleepover!" On Ji had bubbled, trying to brighten the mood. Nadhari had heard the comment and been nasty about it.

"Yes, but you usually go home the next day after the sleepover," was one of the least cruel things she'd thrown On Ji's way. Apparently, corralling Nadhari with a whole host of others was not the way to make her nicer. Not that Katara was sure there was a way…

Katara's own bed was near Suki's, Toph's, and Alcina's. Smellerbee's cot had worked its way over toward her, through the encouragement of Toph, and Katara didn't mind. She'd never gotten a chance to speak in length with the short-haired girl, but Toph seemed to have given her the 'okay', so Katara couldn't complain.

Next to Katara's section, but still a little displaced, was Yue with the other two Northern Water Tribe girls that remained. As Katara looked out at their little group, she felt a deep pang. She wondered if Eva was still around, would she have moved her bed next to Katara's? It felt silly, to worry over beds, but it just reminded Katara how much she missed her, wished that something could have been different. Maybe if she hadn't been hiding. Maybe if she'd gotten there, to pull Eva back. Maybe if she'd been found sooner. The thoughts, questions, plagued her.

On Ji, Maiha, Ratana, and Jin were the next group over, all perfectly nice girls.

Next to them was the pair of Anaselma and Avizeh, but Katara wondered if they'd banded together more being the odd ones out than anyone else.

And then, far over in the corner, was Mai, Nadhari, Cillia, and Ty Lee. Well, saying Ty Lee was with them was perhaps overstating it. Those first couple nights, her bed had been pushed firmly next to Mai's. Mai, when she thought no one was looking, had seemed to comfort Ty Lee. But, of late, Ty Lee's bed was wheeling farther and farther away. Whether it was intentional or not, it broke Katara's heart a little. Every time she saw it, she had more than half a mind to invite Ty Lee so move near her group. The thing stopping her was that this might seem weird, since on the surface no one knew she was friends with the group, and Katara told herself that they were bound to be moving any day.

What was truly strange was Mai and Nadhari 'bunking up' together. It didn't seem like they were friends at all. Cillia, who was far nicer than either, was on a noble level to Mai or Yue, so that was hardly surprising, but still made Katara wish she'd become better friends with Suki or Alcina or someone. No, the one that mystified her was the pair of Mai and Nadhari.

"Maybe they're both in 'We're Horrible High-Class Snots' Club," Toph had snorted, and while Katara hadn't meant to put it indelicately, she'd had similar thoughts. The only thing that seemed to separate them was the fact one was Fire Nation and one Earth Kingdom. The climate of late was one in which it was nearly imperative to have an ally, at least somewhere.

A part of Katara was horribly curious to know what they whispered about, when they were, since Mai was such good friends with Azula and was appreciated by Ozai - if he could choose a wife for Zuko, it might be Mai. In fact, Nadhari was also a favorite of Ozai's. She was only here because he was strong-arming Zuko on it. A part of Katara hoped that was the only reason Mai was here too.

She shook out her thoughts as she pushed open the gilded doors to the ballroom. She saw a commotion of handmaids helping tidy things up and girls shoving things into trunks.

"What's going on?" Katara asked, holding the door open as Mai shoved past her with a whole group of maids following.

"Princess Katara, we could not find you to give you the good news!" Zhi smiled at her with a sense of relief.

"Oh, I was with my brother, in the library," she said. "Good news?" Though, she could have guessed.

"We're getting our new rooms, finally," Alcina finished for Zhi, grabbing Katara's arm and pulling her to their bed square. "I'm so excited to see what they look like! Aiga has been here since mid-morning, gathering your things for the move. I'm just about done too. Want to go with me?" she asked, her friendly exuberance a warm gesture. She knew that she and Alcina were friends, but it was still sometimes nice to have that reminder.

"Aiga, thank you so much," Katara said, a little red that she hadn't been around to help at all.

"Not a trouble, Princess. I know that you've been keeping yourself busy," she said. Her breath was a little short, though, and her eyes were a little too wide, a little too placid when she had no reason to be looking so oddly forced-serene.

Oh, she had the other item today.

And, if Katara had to bet, it was on her, for that in itself was the safest place. Or, the journal, at least. Would she really risk moving around so much with the powder, lest it tear open and kill everyone? However, from the slight tip of Aiga's head to Katara's chest near her cot, she understood. While she didn't like the idea that the power - as well wrapped as it was - was near her own things, it was the safest place. That meant Sokka had the journal.

"You okay, Katara? You can't tell me you're going to miss this," Alcina teased, nudging her. Katara realized she'd been scowling hard.

"No, no. Just thinking about something my brother said," she replied, lying easily.

They followed the convoy of girls and handmaids, finding the new suites with little trouble. They were closer to the Royal Family's quarters, somewhere in between where they put the regular visiting dignitaries compared to where they put up extended family members when they came to stay. The message was clear, they were starting to all be important to have made it this far. They were also on the second floor of the palace, a change to pace, since Katara really didn't spend a lot of time thinking about the multiple floors.

The area was once again sectioned off with a pair of guards and doors, although the doors were wide open to allow them to move in. It brought Katara back to those first days, when she'd been unsure who to trust and she'd heard things about Zuko, like that he was 'strangely handsome', or 'pensive', but not much else.

"It goes alphabetical instead of by nation," Alcina noticed immediately. "They probably want to promote more intermingling, now that we're getting whittled down and such," she said with a shrug. She was the first room, on the left. The doors were a little bigger, a little whiter. Instead of their names hung from a sign tacked onto the door (albeit, it had been in an impeccable font), their names were now on little stained wood signs drilled into the wall. A deeper sign of permanence. The hall itself was even bigger, Katara noted. And, it seemed that instead of looping around in a square shape, there were 11 doors down one long hall, mirrored on each side. There were also things hung on the walls, like it was an actual part of the palace, and not just an assembly of rooms in a convenient spot. At the end of the hall was a smaller doorway, and Katara was curious to see where it would lead. A couple other girls were eyeing it and blushing. Agni, did they think it was something stupid like an entrance into Zuko's suites? Spirits, that would just be an all-around bad idea.

Katara noticed as she passed that the first door from the front had no name, but she was reminded that they were supposed to move in at 20 people. It seemed each group of five rooms had a bathroom, though with only 17 girls left, it was three groups of four and one group of five at the end.

Katara's room was in second grouping, so near the middle. The girls' names went alphabetically back and forth, so while her name actually fell in between Jin's and Kilee's, her left door-mate was Avizeh and - she resisted a shudder or horror - to her right was Mai. This was the second worst combination that Katara could imagine, which could only be topped if it was Mai and Nadhari sandwiching her.

Being next to Mai was a nightmare for obvious reasons. And Avizeh was an incorrigible gossip, who would give her left foot if it meant being the first to spread around news. If she were allowed, she might make a fair journalist, Katara thought. And, when it was a slow day, she'd been known to amp up the truth. She didn't lie, but her word was always taken with a grain of salt. However, this meant any illicit meetings in Katara's room were going to have to stop; between Zuko sneaking in for kissing or for Blue Spirit meetings and she and Toph planning things, or any other secrets of the sort. This did put Katara out.

She saw Mai exiting her new suite and from the frown, it was clear that Mai was just as displeased to be saddled next to Katara as well.

Nadhari had left her room, a little down and away from Katara. "Where's Zhi?"

"Here, Lady Nadhari," Zhi said, sounding very tired.

"Are you who we talk to if we are displeased with our room?"

Katara could see Zhi's jaw twitch, probably holding back a string of cuss words. "The Royal Family has worked hard to make this exceed expectations. It's not even a day in. What could possibly be wrong?"

Katara never heard what vexed her so, because Nadhari dragged Zhi into her chamber. It was probably something stupid, like the paint color clashed with her eyes, or something.

"At least it's not Nadhari next to you," Aiga whispered when Mai was out of earshot and Nadhari's door had closed. Katara covered up her laugh with a cough.

"You're right, of course," Katara amended. She'd take Mai over Nadhari any day.

Aiga opened the door, and Katara couldn't help but be blown away. She'd gotten used to the very elaborate and superfluous rooms of the palace, or so she'd thought. Maybe the fact that this was hers was something different, or maybe Katara would simply never be used to the extravagance when all her lif,e she'd been raised to be pleased with anything the gods sent their way.

It was still just one room, but Tui was it a large single 'room'. A whole family in the South could fit in this one room. And, it was sectioned off to make it seem like there were separate spaces. A grand bed in one section, slightly larger than the previous one. An area dedicated to a desk with a couple book cases. A small sitting area, complete with a tea set waiting to be used. A space for putting her makeup on, complete with a new mirror and cushy chair. Katara didn't see a place to put her clothes, but was sidetracked by a window directly across from the door. There was a balcony with heavy curtains, and when Katara opened them, they revealed a sizable porch with a pair of chairs. They looked out onto a small sitting area that was probably hardly used, but well maintained. It seemed that they could not get down there directly, however. A part of Katara was already examining the walls to see if she could scale it down.

When she came back inside, Aiga was nowhere to be found.

"In here, Princess," Aiga said. There had been a door other than the front door that Katara had missed. So, not a single room. She opened it to reveal a closet with a full mirror. Aiga was putting her dresses that had survived, plus some she'd clearly spent time re-making, onto the hangers.

"What do you think?" Aiga said, holding up a pretty lilac dress.

"In general? Err, beautiful?"

"Oh, I suppose you didn't hear," Aiga said, pleased with Katara's reaction as she laid it across Katara's bed. "For tea time today, you've all been asked to meet with Lady Ursa. She wishes to talk to all of you."

"About what?" Katara asked, allowing Aiga to begin to undo Katara's current dress.

"I could not say, Princess." She patted Katara's shoulder. "But Lady Ursa is kind, of course."

Katara gave a short, slightly forced laugh. Somehow, talking with Zuko's mother was nearly as intimidating as going against Ozai. But, Aiga was correct. It couldn't be that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very late. I get that XD However, I am RIGHT at the end of my last semester of undergrad (I graduate on the 16th) and because of this I have just been so incredibly busy. On that note as well, I will be taking a by week next weekend to graduate and spend time with all my family coming out to celebrate that. So, expect the next chapter around the 20th of December. After that, it should resume to regular update schedule.
> 
> As for notes, they are thus
> 
> *We're getting a little into the genetics of being a bender. I'm going off a great website I found, but I'll link it to later, because the discussion of hereditary bending and such will be a bigger deal later ;)
> 
> *Later tonight (I unforch left the files at home...I'm updating from work...bad Lex) I will have a schematics of the girls rooms, the order of them, as well as a picture of that nice lilac dress up on my tumblr (youngbloodlex22) or the Art Story on my Archie of Our Own
> 
> Not much else to say. I hope you all enjoyed this! Predictions of what you think Katara will be talking to Ursa about ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this ready for about a week, but being with family can just be so busy and exhausting XD

But of course, Ursa wasn't meeting all seventeen girls at once. So, even after Aiga had gotten Katara dressed and put on her makeup and jewelry, there was still a lull in which the girls waited to be summoned. Aiga suggested they go visit Toph, something Katara was very much agreeable to.

Toph's room was near the end of the hall. Katara came to her door and paused, turning to Aiga. "You sure she's in here?" she asked. Toph always answered the door before Katara even got a chance to knock, and she enjoyed yanking the door open and giving Katara a mini heart-attack.

"Oh, for the love of-" Toph growled, throwing open the door. "I hate this."

"Hello to you too, Lady Bei Fong," Aiga said, bowing and attempting to keep her smile from breaking across her face.

"Yeah, yeah. Felicitations, what a fairy-tale day and all that yuck," Toph said, waving her formality away as she encouraged the pair inside.

"What do you hate?" Katara asked, sitting on Toph's bed. It pretty much looked the same in here, except for much of Toph's fabrics and details were in browns and greens whereas Katara's were blue.

"Being on the second floor! Obviously," Toph huffed like it was the clearest thing in the world. She held up her foot, scowling at it like it had betrayed her. "I mean, I can still feel things, but it's like I'm getting it second hand, as though it's a friend of a friend trying to recite shit to me. First chance I get, I'm gunna have words with Sparky."

"Oh, you think he'll just move you down?" Katara crossed her arms.

"It's either that or I tear up this carpet to feel the stones underneath. Or, he brings me slabs of metals and I get to redesign it."

"Zhi would have an aneurysm if you did that."

"Tough nuts," Toph said, flopping face down on her bed.

"Hey," Katara said, standing, "Is this...is this from Sokka?"

Katara had spotted a picture on the wall, an ink drawing so horribly done that it could really only have been made by her brother, bless his heart. And, if she wasn't mistaken, it seemed to be of Toph...except, it was hung upside down.

"Is it supposed to be that way?"

"What way?" Toph turned her head, tilting her ear up to hear Katara's voice better.

"This picture. It's of you, I think, and it's the wrong way," Katara said. Maybe Toph wanted it that way, stylistically. Maybe Sokka had, and it was art 'she just didn't understand', something he'd said to her on more than one occasion.

"It probably is. I tried hanging it. Can't blame a blind girl." She shrugged.

"Why would he make you a painting if you can't see?" Aiga frowned, rubbing her chin.

"Sokka tries to pawn off his drawings on anyone that will take them," Katara replied, for she had a stack of drawings from him she'd taken. In moments when she had missed her family, she'd taken them out.

"Actually, I can feel the raised ink on the paper, so I can sort of feel his drawings," Toph corrected.

"Huh."

"Speaking of your brother, did you see that we have these locked chests for our rooms, with like, super intense locks? I mean, they're metal so I can get into them, but I bet the average lady can't. Might be a good place to...hide something of importance. Something I know a certain Ambassador currently has."

Katara hadn't noticed. "Wait, how do you know Sokka has half of the items?" Toph blinked, and for a second Katara thought maybe she just wasn't going to answer.

"Easy. I can always tell," she said slowly. "Heart-rate. Aiga has the other half," she said breezily, "But the point is, maybe we don't have to do this back and forth thing with them. Maybe we can just...keep them in one place."

"That still seems dangerous." Aiga hushed her tone. "We shouldn't even be talking about this," she added in a near furious reminder.

Toph looked ready to fight her back, but reeled herself in.

"You're right," she agreed, which was the closet Katara had ever heard Toph come to apologizing. "I just want to get rid of it all fast."

Katara didn't answer, but sent a look, something she hoped conveyed 'Toph, we all do.' Then, of course, she realized Toph couldn't see her and said it out loud.

"You know what else sucks about this room?" Toph said after a second, rolling around on her nicely made bed, probably just out of spite.

"What?" Katara deadpanned.

"The rest of y'all only have three other people to a bathroom. I have to share it with four people. What kind of shitty luck is that?" she asked. "I mean, it's me, Saoirse, Ty Lee, Suki, and Yue," she listed, holding out a palm, fingers outstretched to represent five. Frankly, Katara thought, that sounded like a great group.

"Maybe I'll have to kill one off." Toph was still talking. "Ty Lee used to bother me, but she's-" Toph made a weird hand motion where she just waved her hands around in the air, but Katara got the gist. It was meant to represent 'part of the group', "-now, so can't get rid of her. Suki's boss, Yue is nice to everyone and somehow it works for her. So, I guess it's going to have to be Saoirse."

"If someone hears you talking like that, they may think you're serious!" Aiga chastised.

"You hate bathing," Katara also added, "Fine layer of dirt and all?"

"I dislike it due to the principal of it all!" Toph said, which Katara took to mean she was just looking for things to complain about.

"Oh, two of you!" A handmaid that Katara had seen around before - she thought maybe she was Anaselma's - was at the door. "Lady Ursa will see you now. Please, follow me."

The girl nodded to Aiga in the way that two people who were on the same level of importance did, acknowledging the other. Aiga followed respectfully behind. Toph's handmaid was nowhere to be found, but that was hardly surprising. Katara wondered how long it would be until someone got wind of it and told Toph that even if she didn't need a minder, she did need a handmaid. Or, maybe there were just bigger fish to fry than a rebellious competitor.

"Lady Ursa is taking groups of six, but rotating them out," the handmaid explained. "Two by two. She alerts me when it's time to switch, but it seems most girls stay around an hour and a half."

Katara wasn't sure how far Ursa's cunningness went, but if this were Katara and she was thinking about these girls in a very political sense, this was a stroke of genius. She made it seem like the girls were special and loved, but at the same time she could chart how they responded to different girls. Nadhari, for example, was probably pleasant around Mai but couldn't help being nasty to other girls, which she hoped Ursa would see.

The handmaids didn't bring the girls into Ursa's private chambers, as Katara was sure many of the girls were expecting and hoping. None of them had ever actually seen inside the Royal Family's rooms that stood behind the two golden doors. Well, except Katara. She wasn't supposed to have, however, so she wasn't about to offer up what Zuko's room looked like, even if the satisfaction of watching Mai's or Nadhari's face at the news was tantalizing.

Instead, they were brought to some of the many, many fancy rooms of the palace, near where the grand balls were held. When they'd met General Iroh for tea, the room had been a little stiff feeling. She never thought of Iroh as a staunch type of person, but he was a general and the brother of the Fire Lord, talking to a group of young girls, so the slight barrier had felt reasonable. Ursa's tea room was small and comfortable and seemed like something a mother would share with her daughter. It gave the idea that this wasn't Ursa the Mother of Zuko talking with the girls, but Ursa, A Fellow Female.

As they were being shuffled in, Maiha and Jin were being escorted out. They nodded in a friendly way to Katara and Toph, but both were holding onto a sheet of paper and seemed deeply engulfed in whatever it said. This did make Katara wonder where they'd gotten it and what it said.

"You're either very lucky or very unlucky," Anaslema's handmaid prefaced before they entered, as a couple other handmaids came around to clear the previous two girl's places and set fresh tea cups. "For you're the last two. Which means you'll leave with the two that came before you and get less time with Lady Ursa, or you'll get to talk to her alone."

She bowed, slipping inside to speak to Ursa for a moment.

Aiga had become adept at reading Katara's expressions.

"You were probably difficult to find. I do not think it was on purpose," she said, but Katara could never be sure of anything anymore.

"It's no matter to m.," Toph almost wiped the gloss Aiga had convinced her into wearing off, but Aiga grabbed her arm at the last second. "But I do have other things to do today…"

"Like what?" Katara snorted.

"Well," Toph's grin was feral, "Sparky asked me to meet him. Dunno what about...but that's sure interesting, eh?"

Although it did pique Katara's interested what business Zuko had with Toph, she also knew that Zuko saw Toph as nothing more than a sister, so she didn't linger on it, as Toph clearly half-hoped she would. She knew Toph well enough to say that Toph was the sort of person who liked setting fires, sitting back, and watching the world burn. Usually, it wasn't done out of malice, but Toph also wasn't being super careful to not hurt feelings. So, Katara was not going to react.

Instead, she shrugged.

"Have fun I guess?"

Toph almost pouted, but realized Katara wasn't going to play. "If I said that to any other girl, they'd be begging me to tell why and offering their firstborn child or something to change places."

As the door re-opened and Katara caught a glimpse of the other girls sitting around the table, she snickered. "Well, Avizeh is here, so don't let her hear. Or, next thing you know, there will be five witnesses coming forward saying that they heard Prince Zuko announce his undying love for you, two articles in the news, and one ring maker on hold to make the royal engagement ring."

"There might also be a rumor you're pregnant," Aiga added in.

Toph tilted her head. "Maybe I should. Some chaos is always fun."

Before Katara could argue, Ursa was waving them inside.

Both girls bowed before Ursa.

"Princess Katara, Lady Bei Fong, please take a seat," she said. Katara took a set at a rich red cushion, sinking blissfully into the feathers. Toph hadn't moved.

"Aren't you going to help me, or ask handmaid to, Lady Ursa?" Toph asked in a small and helpless voice.

"Lady Bei Fong," Ursa sipped her tea with a sparkle in her eyes, "We both you know are more than capable of finding the place yourself. Your tricks that my brother-in-law finds so hilarious will not slip past me here."

There was a scattering of giggles from the remaining girls. Toph seemed stunned for a moment, a look rarely worn on her face, before she nodded twice.

"Yep, you're just like Sparky," she said, doing away with any sort of formalness and plinking down next to Katara.

The others at the table, besides Avizeh, were On Ji, Besu, and Ty Lee. Katara was sure her sigh of relief to not be seated with Nadhari or Mai was very visible, but she was too relieved to care.

Besu and Toph did a funny movement in which they knocked their fists together in greeting, and Ursa seemed enchanted by it.

"Please, help yourself to the snacks. Attendants will be coming around with my favorite teas, if you so wish to try them," Ursa said.

"No need to tell me twice to eat," Toph said, fingers wiggling as she filled up her plate like this was dinner instead of a mere tea meeting. Katara took some cookies and some spicy looking meat on a stick, finding the spread of food in front of her unusual, but welcome.

"All my favorite snacks as well. I could have gone more traditional, with dainty finger cakes or fruit, but I want to feel comfortable, just as I wish you all to do too," Ursa said. Katara's fingers jerked back to her. She had not expected Ursa to be so perceptive.

Ursa met Katara's eyes with a knowing look, something near a smile, and suddenly Katara was burning to ask her a thousand questions. She hadn't had an opinion, much like Toph, whether they were going to be alone with her or not, but Katara found herself so hoping that she'd even get a moment alone.

"We were just talking with Ursa about her Royal Wedding," On Ji interjected in a dreamy voice. Katara tried not to let her lips pucker. They had Ursa right in front of them, who seemed very willing to answer anything, and they were asking about trivial things like what colors she used in her wedding?

Katara paused before saying something unkind.

These girls had just survived a battle that left people dead. This was more action than they thought they'd ever see here. They were forced out of their rooms, had lost important items and their clothes alike, and were still around. So, for an average girl like On Ji, was it really so bad to talk about things like this? Normal things? Lighthearted, un-scary things?

Katara, and even Toph, decided not. Katara let herself sink into the conversation. She tried to summon the way she talked with the girls back at the start of the competition, but she'd found friends in Toph and Suki quickly, and had mostly talked them. She tried to think back to even the girls on the tundra, but Katara hadn't had many female friends.

So, instead of trying to be someone she wasn't, Katara decided she wouldn't make an overly large effort to join in, but merely listened and sipped on mango-lemon green tea.

"As I was saying, I only had two ladies standing up with me for my vows," Ursa said.

"Can you only have two?" Avizeh sounded a little frazzled. While Katara wasn't up to snuff on Fire Nation wedding customs, she imagined that they were talking about something like a witness or someone to sign a document, like they did in her tribe...or had, when they still had paper.

"Girls and boys often stand by one pair of the intended when they wed, as a symbol that the bride and groom respect what they've done for them to get to that point," Ursa cut in for Katara. "You know, I can't say I know many Southern Water Tribe customs regarding matrimony."

Katara realized that the gaze had turned to her. She was about to decline, until she saw that Ty Lee and On Ji looked actually interested.

"Well, it's not much. It usually begins by the male giving gifts to the female. Then, to prove his worth, he will usually help the bride's father for about a year, doing various things from joining in hunts to building a shelter for himself and his future wife. Then, sometimes couple will just go off and that will be it. I wish that it could be as romantic as this all is, but when you're nearly starving, having lavish ceremony to an event sometimes is unneeded. You make a pact with another person to love them and to care for them and that's how it is. But-" She realized how small and unofficial this all felt. "If someone really wanted to prove to the tribe that they were taking under a true vow of love, there's a small ceremony. We have witnesses for the sides stand up, and the wife will weave a blanket for the pair. A part of that blanket will be wrapped and tied around the couple's hands, to signify an unbreakable bond. To cheat or leave a union after this would be…" Katara shook her head. Luckily, the group seemed to gather the meaning.

Ursa looked thoughtful. She wondered if she was going to tell this information to Zuko, or if she actually was genuinely curious? Maybe both?

"Thank you, Katara. You never have to share if you feel uncomfortable," Ursa reminded, "But to answer your question, no, Lady Avizeh. I only wanted my childhood best friend and my other closest friend that I had made during the competition. I didn't need any more support than that."

"I have so many friends, I don't know who I'd choose," Avizeh whispered in a quiet laugh.

"Some do have many. Nia, may she rest in peace, had twelve girls," she said. Some girls looked confused, but Katara took a guess that it might be Zuko's aunt. The name sounded familiar too, she was nearly sure of it.

"I want a big wedding." On Ji gave a star-eyed smile, setting her elbows on her folded legs. "Can't you imagine?"

"I'd like it to be a big deal too," Besu added with a small smile, and Katara jumped, having rarely heard her talk. "I just...I dunno. Like the idea that so many people would be happy to see it, to be there."

"If my son picks you, your wildest dreams could come true," Ursa said. "No expense will be spared."

"If I get married, I like how Katara's people to it. No fuss, no drama. If you love someone, why do you need all that anyway?"

Ursa laughed. "I'm somewhat inclined to agree. However, it's more for everyone else than it is for you. I think I loved Ozai enough I would have married him in servant's clothes in the desert, if we needed to."

Now this was interesting. That Ursa had even once loved Ozai. She wasn't sure about currently, but even to have once loved that man...now Katara had more questions than ever.

Ty Lee gave a quiet coo, a small 'aww'. Katara had never thought to ask Ty Lee, who saw their domestic life more than Katara did. Maybe she'd have to later.

"What about you, Katara? What sorts of things do you want at your wedding?" Ty Lee said, turning, smiling as she encouraged Katara to add in.

"Uhm," Katara frowned. She'd never really romanticized a possible wedding. "I guess...well, I don't need to do it the whole way my tribe does. I like the betrothal necklace, but that's more something in the North. I guess I'd just really want my family to be there."

"A very sweet thought." Ursa nodded at her.

"I've heard that in some places, like the Earth Kingdom, the father gives the bride away. I guess I really look up to my dad, and I like that. I'd want to know that he approves of the marriage." Katara looked at her hands, saying much more than she had ever intended to.

"I can't imagine your father would ever disapprove. You have a good head on your shoulders, Katara. I can't imagine you would ever pick a future spouse lightly."

Did Ursa know that she'd turned Zuko down? All of a sudden, Katara wasn't sure that she didn't. That she might even...respect Katara's choice to say no? Or, Katara was just reading into it. Damn it, Katara truly couldn't tell.

"Lady Ursa." On Ji suddenly looked very red in the face. "Can I ask...a well, more personal question?"

"My dear, I would never want you to feel uncomfortable to ask me anything."

"I've just heard…" On Ji frowned, swallowing. "It was a myth of sorts in my town. We weren't as big a part of the Fire Nation as other cities, but...well...no, never mind," she squeaked, covering her face, her skin as red as the cushion Katara sat on.

Toph coughed into her tea, trying to hide a laugh. Whatever On Ji was about to ask was apparently setting off Toph's sensors on something.

"Oh," Avizeh realized and grimace, looking at her tea though it displeased her. "I think I know the rumor. On Ji wants to know, and I guess I do too...I hear that on the night of the wedding, there's uh, people watching to be sure the union is...consummated."

Toph burst out laughing, covering it up by shoving more chicken in her mouth.

Katara recoiled back. People watching while you had sex? Spirits, and they called the South archaic!

Ty Lee played with her braided hair, her cheeks a little pink as well, and Besu's eyes just widened to nearly comical lengths.

Usra gave a heavy sigh. She set down her tea, something she hadn't done with such ceremony since Katara had arrived, which told her that this was a slightly tense question.

"In short, yes. Spirits knows I've been trying to convince Ozai to abolish that darn rule since he took the throne, but the Fire Nation prides itself on tradition, if you cannot tell."

"Oh, gosh." On Ji looked terrified. Katara wondered if she'd ever even kissed a boy? It did seem awful for someone's first time, which Katara was sure was many of the girls' experiences, to be viewed and charted.

"They attempt to make it less awkward, but nothing much can change it, if you really think about it," Ursa said, patting her hand across the table. "They just want to be assured that the event of an heir will come as soon as possible. The Fire Nation has had two or three examples in which a Fire Lord has died without a son or daughter and it has not been pretty. So, the Fire Sages are overly nervous, and did this to combat that, or at least to give it the best chance. They have very heavy curtains up and the lights are very dim. After, the next morning, they check for blood. The maidenhead."

"Not every woman bleeds her first time," Katara couldn't help but blurt out. She didn't dare ask what if a woman wasn't a virgin, because she wasn't sure she'd like the answer.

The girls were looking at her with mild surprise, and Avizehs' eyebrows were raised in a 'oh, you know from experience?' sort of way. Which, no, she didn't...at least, not that sort of experience. She had just helped deliver enough babies that Katara knew the whole process, from sex to baby.

"Very true," Ursa said, "which is why they require to see the act. And a handmaid checks. To be honest, most are loyal enough to their ladies that they'd say there was blood even if there was none, just because it can be hard to convince old Fire Sages of such things, as if-" Ursa paused, biting her lip. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to speak badly."

"If they've ever been a woman, you were about to say, right?" Toph guessed. Ursa did not confirm it, but her gaze did turn to Toph, which Katara took as a 'yes'. However, she continued talking.

"You can pick who you want in there, if that helps. Three people. One Fire Sage, one male representative, and one female. Non-handmaids, royalty."

"A little," Besu agreed that it was a benefit, settling back. It seemed like most the girls were circling through who they'd ask, or who they'd want.

Katara couldn't help but wonder. Frankly, she didn't want anyone hearing or seeing the union, but...well, not her brother. Ugg, gross. Not Aang, since she thinks this might horrify him. But Zuko would theoretically pick the male. Who would he pick? Maybe Lu Ten? At least she knew that Lu Ten would be respectful about it, and he wouldn't derive any pleasure from it. So, on her end, females...well, maybe Toph or Suki or Eva, all people who she felt close with. Maybe not Toph. Toph may spend the night critiquing Zuko's form or something.

"I didn't want to end on that note, but perhaps it's best you all know. Feel free to pass this along. Now, as for your two assignments." She nodded to On Ji and Avizeh and they joined Ursa in a small side-chamber.

"She'll explain in a moment," Ty Lee said, smiling at the pair. "How are your rooms? Definitely different, huh?"

"You're probably used to it, though," Besu said, "Being a noblewoman and all."

"Not like this. Not something just for me," Ty Lee admitted.

"It's, uh, different. Scattered," Katara said. "Like, scattered around. Not like before. And on the second floor."

"Such astute observations," Toph drawled.

By this time, Ursa had returned.

She bowed goodbye to the two girls, and they both had a paper too.

"For Toph and Princess Katara, as you're both wondering what is happening, the purpose of this meeting is twofold. One, to get to know you all a little better. But today, I am also facilitating an outreach program, to assure the people of the capitol that not only are we strong after the attack, but we are there for them. Being a mother to the nation is a very important part of being the Fire Lady. It's not just dresses and makeup, of course. So, to lead you into this role, I set up different programs to be happening today and I am placing each girl where I feel they would be most useful."

"Clever," Toph breathed under her breath. "I'm sure the papers will love that."

"Perhaps." Ursa stirred some honey into her tea. "But the people we're helping will love it more." In that moment, Katara sort of loved Ursa. Even if she'd grown used to underhanded ways, at her core, she was just a good person.

After the pair left, it was just four. They continued to talk about trivial, fun things. Besu took reign of the conversation, maybe feeling a bit more at ease, and asked about any mistakes Ursa had made as a young Fire Lord's wife. It was a fair question, and Ursa regaled them with tales of her missteps and things she learned the hard way. She was a good storyteller, and funny too. Katara would have never guessed that without this meeting. She had all the girls nearly snorting up their tea in laughter as she talked.

"-And then, I was so nervous to go to my first ball after Ozai picked me. All my formal training, all that etiquette that my parents had taught me and that I had learned here went right out the window. I remember that I had opted to wear gloves, since my hands were sweaty and I didn't want the people I shook hands with to know. But, he'd commissioned me this gorgeous ring when he proposed, that I couldn't not wear it to show off. As I was waving when we walked in, as everyone was bowing, I suppose I waved my hand a little too violently and the ring came sailing off and hit one of the dignitaries square in the forehead. He said he was honored to be hit by it, but spirits, I was so sure that that was it. I'd be out of here that night." She laughed, shaking her head. "I suppose it goes to show as put together as you think I am, every young wife starts out nervous and unsure. It's something you grow into to."

After that, she collected Ty Lee and Besu. Since she did not grab Toph or Katara, Katara wondered if that meant they were on the lucky side. Neither of the girls leaving seemed upset to see the pair alone with Ursa.

When she returned, she poured herself another tea.

"I won't keep either of you long. It would be terribly unfair, and I don't want to upset the other girls. But, I admit, it would be equally unfair for you both to not get the full time. Still, I know you're antsy to get out of here, Toph, so I might just give you your assignment now."

"Please, respectfully," Toph grumbled. "Look, I love tea as much as the next...well, I love tea more than the average lady. But all this wedding talk makes me gag a little."

"Fair. It's not everyone's cup of oolong. You will be going down to the servants housing structures. There's still a fair bit of rubble there from the attack, and I figured no one would be better for clearing rocks quickly."

"Sounds fun. I'm on it, Mama Sparky." She winced, realizing how informally she'd called her. Ursa just patted her shoulder.

"I'm honored to have a nickname, though I request you use it in small company with me only," she assured kindly.

Toph all but ran out.

This just left Katara and Ursa.

"Any questions before I send you off too, m'dear?"

Katara hesitated. Yes, she had a million questions. So many. In the end, two seemed to cover almost all of her worries.

"Did you ever love Fire Lord Ozai? Did you know when you married him that he'd be...this?"

Ursa didn't seem shocked or offended. She nodded, thinking. This question led to so many of Katara's others. Was evilness learned or bred? Would Zuko be like this one day? Could Ozai be redeemed? Could you see it and stop it before it bloomed? Was this love, whatever it was, doomed to repeat itself?

"May I first begin by stating that Zuko is not his father. I have made sure of that," Ursa said, her forehead crinkling. "But even at birth, he was different. But for the actual questions? Oh, my dear child, I did love Ozai."

She motioned for Katara to sit back down, indicating this might be a story. Katara settled herself, nibbling on a slice of flatbread with herbs and cheese and fireflakes.

"I was always going to be in a Choice, what with the fact I was Roku's granddaughter. They'd had their eyes on me since I was born, the Fire Sages. I just happened to be too young for it to be acceptable when Iroh went through his, though I think I could have loved Iroh. He is kind too, as you already know. I did not want to come. I had a boyfriend in my hometown that I thought was my forever. My parents would never dishonor a direct request from the capitol, so I went. I didn't try to win. I knew my old flame would wait if I wanted him to. But Ozai, as a young man, not much older than Zuko? He was...enchanting. He was suave, clever, intelligent, and handsome. When he said he loved you, even if it was all a lie, you felt like he did. I perhaps foolishly thought he held some tender emotions towards me. Maybe he did, but it's so hard to see that today. But if I think back to when we were all in the competition, and when we were first married, I thought it would all be alright. He dazzled me with gifts, called me sweet names, wrote me letters...he can be romantic if he so wishes. Once it began clear he intended to choose me - though I'll never know how much his father was encouraging this - I knew I had few choices. I wasn't going to go back to my hometown, to my boyfriend. I was going to marry Ozai and bear his children. So…" Ursa drew in a near shaky breath. "I worked with what I had. I picked myself up from that sadness and decided that I was not going to be unhappy in this life. That would feel like they won, you see, if I was morose about it. I looked at what the spirits were handing me and I did everything in my power to make it into a life I woke up to that I was happy with. You understand, Katara? I don't know if my love for him was all a lie too, or if I convinced myself into it, or anything. All I know is that I wasn't going to wish for things that weren't there. And I have found happiness. My children. I love them more than my own life. I would do anything for them," she said sternly, in a terrifying sort of tone that Katara knew she meant it with absolution. Katara nodded in agreement, getting her words.

"As to the second part? I saw it. I was more observant than most, or more in tune with reality. He had a temper. He would get upset over small things. He could be unbelievably cold and cruel, especially to handmaids or guards that displeased him. He spoke of ambitions that were...terrifying. And still a part of me thought that maybe if he was shown love, a love his mother - who was cold and detached - and father - who saw his sons more as chips on a board than children - never gave, I could have fixed him. I suppose I was naive. I suppose I should have known. His older brother would have given all the love in the world, but that still hadn't done anything. For years I labored under that thought, until there was something else worth working toward. Now...well, can someone really be forgiven for doing atrocious things? I doubt I'm in the position to be making such calls, but I wouldn't have the answer anyway."

"I'm sorry." Katara's voice was raw, despite having spoken very little.

"I didn't have to answer. I wanted to," Ursa assured. "These are most things you could have figured out yourself, in due time. I'm not going to paint Ozai as a better human being than he is. He has brought the Fire Nation much celebration, made us strong. At what cost?" Ursa shook her head. "Do you have any more questions?"

Katara locked her jaw, firmly shaking her head. She felt a little ill, a little faint. She'd already dug so personally into Ursa's life that she couldn't imagine wanting more out of her.

"In that case, I will just tell you where you'll be going." Ursa stood, motioning toward the door.

"Don't I get a paper?" Katara asked, frowning.

"Some jobs need more instructions than others. This one is more feelings-based, you see. More instinctual." Ursa motioned for the handmaids to start cleaning. "Some of the girls are talking to those affected by the attack, asking what we can do to help. Guards and maids whose houses were destroyed or family slain, dignitaries that were injured, delivery people who got caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time, healers who worked double to make sure those who could be saved were. A lot have family they couldn't just leave alone, so I've set up a daycare in the gardens. While we have some workers watching, it always goes a long way for others - more important members - to come by. If you wouldn't mind, I'm sure the children there would be happy to have you."

"Of course, Lady Ursa," Katara bowed. She wasn't upset to be placed with children. She missed how many there once was in the tribe, or from the stories she heard of her grandmother, back when things were a little better. She knew she was good with children too.

"It is located in the gardens in which we had the small fair of the dignitaries. Do you need an escort?"

"I think I can find it again. And, thank you. That was...enlightening." Katara struggled to show her gratitude about how open she'd been.

"You deserve only truths, Princess Katara."

xxXXxxXXxx

Katara did manage to find the gardens easily enough. She heard the laughter long before she saw it, which was a good sign.

When she came under the awnings, she saw a sea of small heads running around in the grass. Compared to their parents or guardians, and what they were doing here, they seemed extremely care-free. Some had balloons, others were painting with watered-down ink, and most were playing games with only their imagination. She spotted Shoji with a couple other guards, and figured Aang was in the fray (or, worse, he was with Zhao somewhere). Shoji was doing more playing than helping to guard. Small kids, six and younger, were grabbing onto the long handle of a spear, and Shoji and his guard partner were lifting it up, holding it horizontal, and letting them dangle before they fell back onto the ground in a fit of giggles.

She caught a familiar set of robes near the back and paused completely. Zuko sat with a group of small kids around him, grinning and making animals out of the flames on his fingers. From the way that the kids' fingers waved in the air, despite being unable to hear him, she guessed they were calling out animals to do, for they'd all quiet and Zuko would make another ethereal flame creature, leaping from his fingers before sizzling on the ground, leaving behind only embers and slightly blackened fire.

He looked like he was having fun too. He looked relaxed. There was no one here to monitor his actions other than the guards, who had their own hands busy, so he was himself.

At one point, a small toddler tripped over his own feet and fell face first into the grass next to Zuko. Zuko paused his magic tricks immediately, kneeling down to pick the boy up. He set the boy on his leg as he sat back down and made a ferocious tiger right near the boy's face. The toddler's wails stopped as he watched, enchanted.

Even after the boy had stopped wailing, Zuko continued to let him sit there. He seemed so small, in comparison to Zuko. Yet, there was a care to the way that Zuko handled him, a gentle hand on his back, a quiet muss of his hair here and there, a watchful eye in case something happened.

Katara's first thought, though she realized only later his practice might have been from being an older brother to Azula, was that one day he'd make a good father.

Her next thought was a confusing one. As much as it hurt to imagine Zuko marrying someone else, it was a hurt she could withstand. The idea that Zuko would be a father one day to someone else's children? That was almost unbearable to Katara, though she didn't know why.

Third was that it was weird to think of Zuko having children, though by their ages and expectations, it wasn't too strange at all. There were many boys in her tribe that Katara thought were not ready for parenthood in the near future, one of which being her brother, but she admitted to herself that Zuko could probably step into that role tomorrow and be brilliant at it.

And a part of Katara hated how cliché it was, how much of a typical girl this probably made her but...seeing Zuko with a child, imagining all of that, it  _did_  things to her.

"Request a royal picture. It will last longer."

Katara nearly jumped out of her skin, as she turned to see Hahn carrying a large piece of wood, his beady eyes watching where Katara was hovering. Katara wondered how long she'd been standing here like an idiot.

"Sod off," Katara snapped, shuddering.

"Yeah, c'mon, this thing is getting heavy." Arrluck complained from the other side. Yue came from around the corner, reading a list of things, nearly colliding.

"Come on, let's keep going. Oh, Katara!" she waved. "Did you get assigned? We're helping to build a new temple area, since some of the smaller gods' offering sites got destroyed in the attack," she said, motioning to the log.

"I'm, uh-"

"She's watching the prince and thinking about making one of those herself." Hahn's voice was utterly creepy. Katara stiffened, despite his observation being not too far off.

Yue struggled for a way to yell at him, horrified.

"Let me," Arrluck said, being more forward than Katara had ever seen him. He dropped his side of the log onto Yue's shoulders, grabbed her papers, and whacked Hahn over the head with them. "You're an ass. Let's keep moving," he said, re-taking his place.

Katara had stayed away from the North Water Tribe representatives, mostly because Hahn made her skin crawl and Arrluck always seemed mousy and quiet when he spoke. Hahn seemed to be the same. Arrluck? Was his newfound confidence because he was on his own and had grown out of his family's teachings, or was he always like this around other Water tribesmen?

Before she could think of it more, Shoji noticed her and waved to her. This caught Zuko's attention. Hahn might have started to make another comment, but Yue urged him forward, sending an apologetic look back in Katara's way.

Katara stepped onto the grass.

"Princess Katara!" one of the girls squealed, no more than ten. "I'm playing princess with my friends. Will you tell me what it's really like? Will you be our queen?"

Although Katara had wanted to say something to Zuko, she found it hard to resist the pleading faces and the crowns made from the weeds and wildflowers that grew in the area.

"Of course," she said, letting the girls take her hand and lead her away to their imaginary kingdoms.

Although Zuko didn't stay as long as Katara, likely could not, she caught him looking at her often, stealing glances that were soft but also willing and intoxicating. She had a feeling he was thinking similar things as she'd been thinking about him.

Katara wasn't ready to be a mother, she knew that much, no matter how adorable and pudgy-faced these kids were. In a not-so-distant future, with the right person? Katara put a pin in that thought.

She didn't actually get any chance to talk to Zuko before he had to bow out for other duties, but she felt like they'd gotten a chance, from how much she knew her mind was drifting to him. How good he was with these kids, how patient and thoughtful. No other ladies from the Choice came out here. Did Ursa know that Zuko would be here, or was it extreme luck?

Either way, Katara stayed until almost all of the children had been collected by parents, and only left once one of the older maids gathered the remaining children into her care, since it wouldn't be long now and it was nearly dinner.

They wouldn't be dining with the Royal Family tonight, but the girls around the table hardly seemed to care. It was very lighthearted, as they all talked over each other to share about their day assignments and what they ended up doing, or about what sort of things Ursa had revealed to them in the tea time. Katara couldn't remember a time that there was so much conversation buzzing around.

As they retreated back to their new rooms, Katara found a missive slipped under her door. She waited until her door was closed completely to read it.

It was simple. But Katara could glean a whole lot from it; probably because she was thinking and feeling the same. Uneven lettering; distracted - probably thinking of her. The nib making deep imprints in the page; frustration - sexual in nature, she had to bet. Short; saying what needed to be said in fear of putting too much out there, things that shouldn't be said on page.

_Painted Lady tonight? If yes, return to me a slip of parchment with black ink on it only._

_-Z_

Grinning, Katara took out a scrap of parchment, smoothed her ink-stained fingers across it, folded it, and sent it off with one of the guards near the doors right away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, not a lot of plot moments, but a lot of fluff, which we can all use!
> 
> I more or less made up/changed Ursa's backstory. The comics I think are sorta 'meh' and so only certain parts will be used from them, including Ursa's boyfriend and all that. I personally like this version of Ursa better ;)
> 
> In personal news, I graduated undergrad and I got into the grad school of my choice, but it starts WAY earlier than expected (In late Jan) which sorta threw a wrench in my plans cuz I thought I'd have all this free time to write so...we'll see how that changes things on my end. I can't be sure yet. You all, of course, will be the first to know.
> 
> I hope everyone who celebrates the New Year had a happy and safe night! Onto 2019!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyeee good people! What's up? Welcome to February. In the past month, I have traveled to Scotland and London, started work again, started Grad School, and met our lovely beta in person finally!

She realized immediately after that there were more than a few problems with her plan.

First, Katara strode over to the balcony and threw open the doors. The night was just slipping into dawn, allowing Katara enough light to see how high up she truly was, and how few footholds there were to shimmy down. She also realized how turned around she was; she had no idea how to get to the kitchen passageways if she wanted to, let alone the kitchen itself.

She left the balcony door open as she slumped in one of the many chairs that now adorned her room, scowling and tapping her foot.

Two, she realized, did she even have her outfit? Most of her things were destroyed in the attacks, and worrying about a costume get-up wasn't high on her list of fears. She supposed she could scrounge together a black ensemble, like when she started, but Katara was used to the Painted Lady now. It was hers. She didn't want to slip backwards.

She yanked open the drawers of her make-up counter noisily. She was pleased to see a new assortment of cream paints; red, white, black...everything she'd needed for her face.

Well, one problem down.

She went into her closet next, turning in a circle. Aiga had begun to refill it, already flowering the racks with long and frilly dresses. She spotted her fisherman's hat on a high shelf and jumped for it. It was dusty and gritty, and the edges were singed, but it had survived. Katara felt a warm glee rise inside of her. It was stupid, but her first thought was that she was a fighter and her alter-ego and costume was an extension of her too, and therefore more durable than collapsing during a rogue hit.

The chiffon that flowed from under her hat seemed to have mostly survived, too. Once she took it out to her porch and gave it a few good whacks against the railing, the dust poofed off, leaving it presentable.

And finally...her dress.

She could manage in one of the plainclothes dresses that Aiga made sure she had a couple of. They were a little ordinary looking, but with the makeup, Katara could elevate them. She was fingering through her choices when a box in the bottom of the closet caught her eye.

She opened it and found a brand-new Painted Lady dress, perfect and pristine and white like fresh snow. It was made of a heavy-duty fabric, one that could withstand her jumping on buildings all night and still flow around her like a goddess.

Confirming a theory, Katara checked the hemlines. Uneven.

A grin bubbled in her chest, one she couldn't help but release with a breathless laugh.

At least half the battle, her outfit, was sorted.

Like an anxious child, Katara waited in her room until near nightfall, when Aiga came in to brush out her hair and help her wipe the makeup from her face. Katara spent her free time trying to get through one of the novels on her shelf, but with little success.

"Aiga," Katara asked once Aiga was settled into brushing out her hair. While Katara abhorred most of the handmaid's jobs, having someone run their fingers along your scalp was enjoyable, and therefore Katara allowed this. "You wouldn't know a thing about that dress, there, would you?" Katara pointed to where her Painted Lady dress was on display.

She could almost feel the smile Aiga was so desperately trying to hold back.

"I wouldn't," Aiga said, her voice vibrating with a sense of glee, "But, if I did, I would say that the people need heroes to look up to."

"Heroes, eh?" Katara raised an eyebrow at Aiga in the mirror.

"Good people. It's hard to conceptualize Royals being so, when they are so far away. Of course, they would not know that it's one in the same, however...people want something to believe in," Aiga explained softly.

"Have you heard things?" Katara didn't know how to phrase the question another way, but Aiga seemed to catch on.

"The Painted Lady has already gained quite a cult following, Princess. The Blue Spirit was appreciated, but there's a…oh, and don't take this the wrong way…mothering, that the Painted Lady possess that calms people. As though she's caring for the whole Capitol."

"I didn't," Katara assured. "A female giving literal sustenance is quite evocative. If this Painted Lady did want to, tonight, she may be concerned with how to, uh, find her away around with the new set up. Since, though a goddess, she cannot fly." Katara's head tilted toward their second-story accommodations.

"Well, I can't help the Painted Lady," Aiga said matter-of-factly, "But I can invite Princess Katara to join me in my room, because I believe I may have left her favorite hair oil there, and it's best to put it on right after the braids are taken out."

Katara hummed, pleased. She knew how to find the kitchens from Aiga's room.

Aiga had a drawstring sack that she carried around, usually to take Katara's laundry from her quarters at the end of the night, but on this moon she only took the dress, the wrappings, the hat, and the make-up there. It made a semi-funny shape, but Aiga carried it like it was a totally usual thing to be ferrying. There was a quiet confidence about her, one Katara hadn't noticed. The confidence to be invisible, if you will. Aiga could walk into any room pretending like she belonged there, and since she was the help, most would not take notice and if they did, she could spin her tale week enough to slip into any scene.

"This isn't a long-term solution," Katara stated.

"No," Aiga scoffed, already realizing this. "But tonight, it will do. It will do."

She realized the time was drawing near to meet Zuko, so Aiga helped her get dressed. She also acted as a look-out, allowing Katara to slip into the storerooms unseen.

At the threshold, Aiga hesitated.

"There's a house, near the fourth quad. I do not think so highly of myself to ask anything of you, Princess, but even if you may just look upon them, see they're doing okay, will you? It's a house that always has a candle for the Dragon Gods in the window. If it's out, it means...well, just can you?"

"Aiga, of course," Katara grasped her hands. "Is there something else you wish to tell me about this house?"

"Not right now, Princess." Aiga's smile was tight.

Katara was not going to push.

As Aiga exited, Katara heard the crinkle of her outfit as she bowed and the sound of the gate being shoved over the cobblestone floor. It meant Zuko had arrived.

Aiga clicked the door closed behind them.

"Katara, hi." Zuko waved, his voice muffled by his mask.

"Dork." Katara laughed, lifting it over his head. She leaned up, but Zuko stopped her.

"Will this smear makeup all over me?"

"You're in a mask," Katara whispered, "So who cares, anyway? If my face is smeared, well…" Well, Katara didn't care.

"Good point," Zuko growled, grasping her arm and tugging her against him. She squeaked as he spun her around, pushing her against one of the shelves.

He didn't give her time to stop him, not like Katara wanted to. He hungrily kissed her, pulling the mask up over his head, dropping it with a clatter on the flagstone. Katara sucked on his lower lip, causing him to grunt as he angled himself to be closer against her.

Yes, Katara's instincts about the short note had been correct. This was, she realized, the only short thing about it.

Having only one layer of clothes between his warm flesh and her hands gave Katara a very clear idea of the parts of Zuko she rarely got to feel or see, for usually it was covered under heavy traditional robes. Katara thanked Agni above for his black ensemble, deciding this was her second favorite outfit of his.

His first, and she was only guessing but had a feeling it would top, would be him with no clothes at all on.

There was a clunk from the kitchens, reminding them of where they were.

Zuko leapt back, snatching his mask from the ground. He rubbed his thumb over his lips, chuckling as it came back with red paint. Katara found a dingy mirror and saw the area around her mouth was now a pinkish hue, from the mixture of the red and the white.

Using a rag, she cleaned up the best she could, feeling acute embarrassment. Zuko, if he felt any, hid it well. He only looked pleased with himself.

"We do have a job tonight," he said, but sounded like it was the last thing he wanted to do. Well, not the last thing. Zuko was a gold-hearted boy at the end of it all, so she was sure helping villages was on his list. It just was not quite as high as what they'd been doing.

"We should, yes," Katara said. "Aiga asked us to go to a specific area." She explained best she could where the location was.

"Ah, we can hit that last," Zuko nodded. "Any idea why?"

"She didn't want to say."

There wasn't a reason not to go there, for Katara trusted Aiga, and all conversation ceased as they scurried up and over the tops of roofs.

Their usual route, over the garden pass of their previous rooms, was mostly destroyed. They had to do a route around it, and Katara could still see the devastation that had befallen the courtyard, the tops of the gilded awnings. She hadn't thought about her first room here, but it

was special to her, in a strange way.

In the South, they may need to re-set their house up every six months, with the weather. Therefore, Katara had never gotten too attached to one set up, one configuration. It was the people that mattered. To miss a room felt strange, felt foreign.

And still, Katara did.

"Aiga covered for me tonight." Katara was the first to talk, once they were on a part of the roof that was familiar again. "But she can't indefinitely."

"I agree." Zuko's voice was muffled, but she heard the frustration in his tone. "I had specifically asked for the suites to be elsewhere, but the attacks left much of the palace unsuitable."

"Toph is upset she's on a higher floor. No dirt."

Zuko snorted. "You know, she could cover the floor with soil and it might be an improvement."

"Tui, don't give her ideas."

"I'll need to assess what passageways are still in use. There are a few near your quarters, so if you can use them to get out the rooms at night, and get to a hinged door, we can figure it out that way. That means finding guards, aside from Shoji, who will be on our side." He went to rub his chin.

"Tahoe. That's Aiga's boyfriend, I believe." Katara snapped her fingers. Realizing her mistake at once, she covered her lips.

She swore that if Zuko could be rolling his eyes at her, he would be. "Aiga's one of us now. I think she can have a boyfriend. I'm not in the business of cutting fingers off for fraternizing between staff, in fact, all power to them. Also, It's rather obvious. You're not subtle."

"Oh. Right." Katara felt her face blush.

"It's my job, Katara," Zuko pointed out, helping her off the high walls that held the royal palace.

"What, to know when maids and guards are breaking stupid rules?"

"That, among other things," he agreed, though he was laughing. "In general, to have a sense of the Palace...and not just the diplomats, is essential...to know that Shei always will shove shrimp down his shirt for later at dinners or that Lady Mantress is sleeping with an ostrich-horse stable boy when her husband isn't looking, but that's okay, because he's sleeping with Lady Antons, and so on. And, the staff are people too- just like the visting guests, with their own torrid dramas."

"Aiga's in a torrid drama?"

"No, she's reasonable. I like her," Zuko said. "So, four houses?"

"Lead the way."

XXxxXX

The night, in all, was successful. The first two drops went off without a hitch. They were patrons of the palace that had given their last dollars for the reparations to the halls, giving more than the ladies and lords who had never-ending pockets. In between the second and third house, they caught and bagged for the local police a man attempting to steal from a little old lady. The third house was like the first two.

It was the fourth house that threw everything for a loop, or at the very least, changed the mood of the night.

"That it?" Zuko asked.

Katara checked the window. On the right, with a green curtain, was a candle. She was sure if she got closer, it would be the only golden item this family owned, and she'd be staring at the bust of the Dragon God from the window.

"Night's waning, let's be quick. It's still half an hour back, and that's if we don't stop for any more mangos."

"I was hungry, and it seemed wrong to take it from the food we're giving to others, when I can very well buy it from the vendor."

"You also made him think he saw a spirit, so."

"Okay, fine. No more mangos for me."

They skirted across the empty, darkened streets.

As Katara carefully arranged the basket on the porch, Zuko knocked on the door. Usually, they'd make themselves scarce, long gone by the time someone answered, but the figure who awakened caused Katara pause.

Zuko realizing Katara was not directly behind him, turned to see her staring wide-eyed on the stoop.

"Katara, come on!" he hissed. He darted forward, tugging her right behind a pile of wood near the door right as the door opened.

There was a coughing sound in the back of Zuko's throat when he saw it too.

There weren't many siblings born in the South. With such poor food and conditions, most families were lucky at this point to have one child. And, people had commented that Katara and Sokka resembled each other. However, it wasn't until Katara had come here and met Zuko and Azula that she truly understood family resemblance. The siblings looked startling alike, to the point that if their personalities were more similar, the only difference would be their gender.

And now, it was like Katara and Zuko were looking at Aiga, but as a man.

His entire face structure was the same, down to the doe eyes and flushed cheeks.

There was zero point in denying it; this man and Aiga were related.

As soon as he shut the door, Zuko was breaking one of their first rules: don't creep on the families.

Their faces were in the shadow of the window, watching with confusion and surprise as they spied a whole host of Aiga look-alikes in the room. Far too many people for the small house, Katara decided. Mother. Father. Grandmother. Siblings...baby cousins or, very young siblings.

Katara swallowed. She vaguely recalled that Aiga had been hired due to her poor status, but Katara forgot just how poor one could be, and she was from the South. Still, this was almost too much for words. The gauntness in their faces and how their fingers shook as they opened the food. Aiga had asked for a report.

They were  _starving_.

Maybe, Katara considered, that the moment she had told Aiga her true intentions for being here, she'd made an ally. That this moment had cemented that Aiga would do anything for her, because she understood Katara.

They were often far more alike than Katara cared to think about.

But, on the other hand, there wasn't much Katara truly knew about her handmaid. She made a promise she'd change that.

Zuko was halfway between fuming and horrified when he finally tore himself away. When they were safe on a roof, high above the city, Zuko ripped his mask up.

"Why didn't she ever ask for help?" he questioned. He sounded shocked, guilty, and sad all at the same time.

"I think, this, was that." Katara said, bringing her knees in close. "But Zuko, you have to figure most of the staff's extended family is dying slowly. Why else chose to work at the palace?"

"But it's Aiga." Zuko's eyebrows knit. "She's not just a face, she's-"

"I know. But she'd probably dislike us for ever thinking so. She just got dealt a slightly better hand. Any of the girls could have been my handmaid."

"But it wouldn't have been anyone like her," Zuko said. "I can't do nothing, now that I know. It was a mini Aiga. Do you know how unnerving that is?"

"Yes, I was there. I saw it too."

"Right. Yes." He rubbed under his eyes. "I'll give them some assistance. That, along with other workers. Maybe I should…" Whatever Zuko's thoughts were, he mumbled them to himself. He was distracted all the way home, giving Katara a quick kiss before he was gone.

Katara didn't take it personally. He had more on his plate than anyone else here.

XXxxXX

"You seem tired, my Prince."

"Time never stops, especially not for Royalty." Zuko gave a kind smile to the server at the table the next morning, the one he had in his rooms, pouring over eight different maxims and proclamations at once.

"Permission to speak?"

"Granted," Zuko said absently, sipping his tea as he scribbled out a wording on one of the parchments, amending it to be less vague.

"I worry you're spreading yourself too thin. Like ink on a brush, too watered down across a page or over too many pages will just be illegible, and therefore useless."

Zuko glanced up, a smile twitching on his lips.

"Let me guess, you're usually my Uncle's server."

"He's just worried, my Prince."

Zuko leaned back, stifling a yawn. It wasn't just that he'd gone out last night with Katara, it was that he hadn't gotten a proper nap in...well, too long ago for Zuko to remember, which was probably not good. However, it wasn't as though the palace's problems would cease if he took eight hours to himself, and therefore sleep would just have to wait its turn.

"I appreciate the effort. You can tell General Iroh that the message has been received, but also tell him that if he would like to take over some of my work, I'd gladly take a nap."

Probably a lie. Even if he roped his Uncle or cousin into some of the many projects he'd taken on by choice or by his father's command, he'd use his free time just to focus on something else, or...if he could have the perfect moment, with Katara.

"I will be sure to do so." The server bowed. "More tea?"

"Yes. But, follow me. Bring the platter with us. If you're going to be my server today, you'll be on your feet. If I wasn't walking the length of the palace daily, twice daily even, I may be better rested." Zuko gathered a couple papers in his fingers, ordering them against his chest. These three had to be dropped off with the Fire Sages. This one Lu Ten had offered to proofread. This one he needed outside knowledge, and would spend some time in his library or call in an expert.

"Sir?"

"I would carry the teapot myself, but my hands are rather full. Are you following?" he asked, glancing behind to see the server following dutifully after him. He held out his emptied cup as they paused at the doors to the Family's quarters, nodding to the server as he filled the cup.

"Just, do this," Zuko held up the cup, "Until my hands are less tied up." As it was, one hand held the tea cup, the others held the papers. Or, they were shoved under his arms, as he started going through the maze of the palace, attempting to plan his day's journey.

And thus started Zuko's very busy day, or rather, an average day for him.

The closest location was the library, but he didn't intend to utilize it until last. He wanted to be able to devote as much time as needed to researching his topic, and it would be best to do that after the rest of the day's adventures were done. He did, however, stop by and find a Master, and asked him to pile up some books on economics as well as studies done in the last decade, so when he sat down to research it would be very easily found.

Next, he needed to drop some charters off with the Sages. He had his tea servant do so, since Zuko wasn't overly fond of the Sages, and he'd either get roped into a conversation about duty and honor or get nagged about taking so long with the Choice, topics Zuko didn't have time in the day to sit through. And, if he did have time, he wouldn't spend it trying not to set a Fire Sage aflame.

Lu Ten was not in the war office, but Zuko set the papers on his desk anyway. Azula was there, however, but she didn't seem to be going over some papers and schematics. A part of Zuko knew to be wary of her reasons, but he didn't have the time to mull on it. Instead, it was pinned to the back of his mind for a later thought.

He still had a stack of papers to distribute and people to talk to, but took a 'break', insofar as tracking down Toph Bei Fong. Although they'd set up a meeting, Zuko hardly expected she'd show up on time, which was true. Perhaps it should be said that Princes should not be chasing down contestants, but Toph was a rare breed of...of, well, anything. Zuko had almost thought 'woman', but Toph would probably take offense to that, just for the sake of taking offense.

Still, he allowed Toph a sense of freedom that reminded him that he put he and Toph in this weird power balance in the first place. Also, claiming that he was going to another meeting gave him an excuse to not talk with a governor or lord…even if he was unsure of where that meeting may be.

He found Toph in one of the topiary gardens. She was knee-deep in a mud crater the Equalists had left behind, looking perfectly happy. He was glad he'd instructed his waiter to go and make him lunch, or fetch it, for he was sure a proper servant would be horrified by Toph's behavior. Zuko was merely used to it. When he didn't think too much about it, it was almost funny.

"You're a hard person to track down."

"Not really." Toph was bending the mud ever so slightly, just enough to mimic a ripple in a pond. "There are only so many green spaces in the palace. Also, now that all the servants keep an annoyingly close eye on any hall that has an item of value, outside is more exciting."

"Right. So." Zuko decided Toph would appreciate it more if he got straight to the point. "The Equalists had multiple passageways to get in. While I think I know most, having grown up bored and lonely in my younger years, there are probably passages that I haven't even come close to stumbling upon. At the moment, they're a liability, as anyone who knew about them could sneak in at any moment."

"I have a guess where this is headed."

"If you were to guess that I want you to find any passageways a person could fit through in the palace, you'd be correct," Zuko said, crossing his arms.

"Seems like a lot of effort."

"Well, one, I can just command it of you," Zuko pointed out with a dry tinge. "But c'mon, to say this doesn't tempt you? To have unlimited access to hidey-holes all over? To poke your nose in places you otherwise would never be?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Sparky," Toph said, considering. "And, after I find these passages…?"

"The ones that pose a danger, such as ones that lead outside, we seal off. Some passages are there to make the servant's lives easier, I wouldn't want to get rid of those-"

"And some lead right up to your bedroom, and Agni forbid Katara couldn't sneak in," Toph snickered. Instead of denying it, though his face was flushed, Zuko coughed.

"Well, yes, that too. And, I want a map of it. So, I have a list, you see. In case this happens again, we know where to check."

"Yeah," Toph got out of the mud pit, not bothering to wipe her legs off, "That seems like a no-go for me."

"Well, take someone with you."

Toph bit the inside of her cheek. "Sokka has a lot of free time-"

"And his maps would probably resemble a blob of ink over anything substantial." Zuko has seen Sokka's efforts with an ink and brush. Much to be desired. "Someone else. Someone we trust. Someone with art skills."

"Oh, yeah, well, I have a huge list to pick from, so let me just go down it." Toph snorted.

"Fine, I'll find you someone. I'll just do it all, why not," Zuko bit out, not the first time he'd started to lose his temper around Toph. Toph, either oblivious or uncaring, patted his cheek as she left.

"You're a gem, Flinty."

Zuko hardly had time to stew about the frustrating meeting with Toph (though, he knew she'd do as he asked and do it well) because he was whisked away to his office for a lunch and meeting combo. Thankfully, it was only Ru, which relaxed Zuko.

To say it was only Ru was maybe rude. He was thankful it was a friend and not a dignitary, and Ru always brought a bottle of whatever was popular in the rings. He didn't spend nearly enough time with his reporter friend outside of business, a constant irritation whenever he did end up seeing him, but one that was hard to avoid.

"All I want is for you to keep an ear to the ground," Zuko asked of him in between eating their noodle soup and partaking in a bubbly drink Ru had brought to share between them.

"I always do, Prince Zuko." Ru shrugged.

"Yes, but," Zuko struggled, "I feel now it is more important than ever to chart reactions and rumors. Nothing should be taken lightly."

"If I hear anything I think is troublesome, you'll be the first to know, before any headlines," Ru promised. "In general right now, people are shaken after the attack. Concerned, of course. The palace is putting on a good show, which eases the public. You'd better hope another attack isn't on the heels, because I worry that a public panic is just this close to exploding out." Ru held his fingers together. "And, nothing is worse than a million worried, frantic people who have abandoned good reason."

"Noted, though if it were anyone's choice, the Equalists would be already gone from my mind." Zuko rubbed his temples.

They didn't have the luxury of a long break, as soon enough Zuko was back to check up on some papers he'd dropped off yesterday or two days ago or a week ago. He spent a good part of his afternoon going in with red ink and making changes to charters and bills, before sending them back to the desks of the men associated with their plight.

In between a few other tasks, Zuko figured out who to send with Toph into the tunnels. His first instinct had been Aang, since the boy had spent his younger years at the Air Temple doodling on sheets, and his formative years here in calligraphy training. This idea was quickly nixed because he was just too busy. It did, however, remind him of another high-trained person at their disposal...Ty Lee. She had as much training in the arts as Aang, plus she would be invaluable for squeezing into small areas with Toph. Besides that, Zuko was not blind. He had noticed her adrift of late. She was, for better or worse, in this crazy mess with them. It would do her good to have a reason to bond with a member of their group.

He took a moment to send a missive to Ty Lee. She could reconvene with Toph on her own. Zuko, despite his quip, was not going to do everything. That would defeat the purpose of deferring this to Toph.

Closer to dinner, it was announced that an invitee of Zuko's had arrived, and was waiting for him in his personal antechamber. Zuko had a fairly good idea of who it would be, since he invited few people to the palace directly that would be as confident as to wait there instead of the very  
nice waiting accommodations.

"Admiral Jeong-Jeong, sir," Zuko said, bowing back as the older man gave Zuko a respectful, but stiff, bow. "Tea?" he asked, motioning for the servant - he had learned throughout the day his name was Atsushi - to come forward. He'd been able to keep up with Zuko all day. If Zuko liked his uncle less, he might be inclined to steal Atsushi as his own liege.

"If you are offering." Jeong-Jeong watched him carefully. His hands were covered in scars, just like his face. This man had seen things. As soon as his tea was in his hands, before Zuko could say anything else, Jeong-Jeong was interrupting. "I have come to decline your very illustrious offer, My Prince."

Zuko frowned, totally unprepared for this.

He took one inhale. Regroup, he told himself. Re-think and regroup before speaking.

"You came all the ways to tell me no?" Zuko asked, feeling an itch in the back of his mind. "Surely a letter would have sufficed."

Jeong-Jeong gave another tiny bow. "I live to serve the Fire Lord dutifully."

Nothing in his voice indicated anything but truth. No sarcasm, no biting tone, not even a hint of bitterness.

Zuko, however, had spent years perfecting his speech around his father so that he would not find himself in trouble for a reply with an edge. He had just learned to express his true colors with other parts of his body: his gaze, his clenched fists, his smile, his posture...this is what tipped him off when he saw the telltale signs of Jeong-Jeong doing the same thing.

He examined the weathered man before speaking again. He, like a detective, took stock of what the man had with him. A large duffle bag, much bigger than the usual military standard. There was a bed-roll on top of it. His shoes were filled with muck and grime that he surely hadn't just picked up from town. He spied Jeong-Jeong's military badges in a bag, not on his person. Finally, Zuko searched his eyes. The answer became obvious after a second of contemplation.

He asked Atsushi to step out of the room, for the next words he spoke of were treasonous.

"This is just a stop along the way, a stop in a plan set into motion long before I summoned you. You're deserting."

Jeong-Jeong held his face incredibly well, but Zuko saw the surprise of being figured out in the way he held his palms against the teacup.

"I'd imagine you are because you hate my father and his way of commanding the military. You probably hate yourself too, for what it's made you do. I know the name you've acquired, it's not a nice one. You're a terror, the most brutal out there...well, before your prodigy Zhao came along. I imagine you heard what he's been tasked with currently and that was the last straw," Zuko surmised swiftly, standing between Jeong-Jeong and the door. "You don't have to confirm it. I see it now. I am disappointed, Admiral, that you did not see the same in me? Your eyes gave you away. They are the same ones that look back at me every time I look in a mirror, can't you see?"

Jeong-Jeong's fingers rubbed over the chair back, the smooth wood, as he stood firm. "Will you have me killed, my Lord?" His voice now had a dark edge to it.

"I want to offer you the opposite. Live, and help me. Be loyal to me, not my father," Zuko said. "But, if you cannot bear to live with the person you are now, I will not stand in your way. You're free to throw yourself into the wind and never return."

"What drives you, Prince?"

"I'm sorry?" Zuko frowned.

"What drives you as a leader?"

The answer took little thought. "The people. My people, as well as the people of the Four Nations not within my command." He thought of Katara. "Not to conquer them, but to make a world of compromise. Honor. Safety. Family, blood related and not. Truth."

"Even if the answers are damning, the answers to this truth you so promise to uphold?"

"Especially if they are," Zuko said.

Jeong-Jeong gave a small smile. Well, it was more a smirk, but it was a movement. "I will follow you, Prince Zuko, because I can see that you and your father are driven by two very different ends. However, the moment I see you sink a foot into power, greed, and hysteria, I will protect the most important thing to me - the good of the people - and will not hesitate to kill you. And then, before anyone can find me, I will be gone."

Zuko swallowed hard, not for fear of slipping up, but having one's life threatened was always a little alarming. Still, after a second to contemplate, he replied, "I would wish nothing less."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going forward, due to my busy schedule as well as our beta's, I will be updating every other week. If, at a point, I manage to write ahead like 10 plus chapters, I'd consider going back to the weekly basis, but atm, that's just a little more than I can chew right now. Looking forward, I also imagine this installment to run between 25-30 chapters!
> 
> Has anyone else been caught up in this polar votex? Last Wed it was -60 with windchill where I was. You betchyer bucket I didn't step foot outside lol. I started re-watching one of my other fav TV shows, Lost, and I have decided that Toph and Sawyer would make good friends XD
> 
> A question to get you back into reviewing! Coming up, in Zuko's POV, there will be an opportunity for some details of dates with other girls. So who would you like to see him on a date with (Besides Katara, obvs, because I do know that's what we're all here for deep down hehe).
> 
> Leave your thoughts and comments!
> 
> Stay warm,
> 
> Lex


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm...welp...who knew grad school would be so difficult and busy? XD

Katara was often told she did not know how to let a matter drop. She considered this, as she went in search of Tahoe.

Aiga had been less than forthcoming about the house and the people that looked startlingly like her. Katara had realized she really knew very little of substance about Aiga's family, about her life.

"You can always tell me," Katara had asked. Aiga had just continued to set out her clothes for the next morning.

"Not today, Princess. Please."

So, Katara had stopped asking...her, at least.

Tahoe was on rotation near the Royal Solar, or as Katara had learned from Zhi that this just meant a big fancy private room, which Ursa was in currently. She was happy to find him at his post alone, though another guard sat not too far away.

"Tahoe, may I ask you something about Aiga?"

"Has she done something wrong, Princess?" Tahoe's face switched to horror. "Is she in trouble?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort." Katara patted his arm. "Do you know much about her family?"

Tahoe tilted his head, frowning. "Not more than you, I'd think. I know she came from the lower sectors, as most of us did."

"Would you know anything about a house near the fourth quad, red shingles, with a lot of people that look just like Aiga?" Katara asked. From Tahoe's face, it was clear he hadn't.

"Princess, what is this about?"

"I just...I think she wants to talk about it, but as close as we are...there is a divide. If you may find the time to get her to open up…I know what it's like to hold things inside until it's too painful." Katara rubbed her arms. "I'm just worried, is all."

Tahoe threw her a soft smile. "Of course, Princess. I'll be sure to talk with her."

"Right. Thank you. Erm, carry on?" Katara rarely knew how to end conversations with the help here. Most just left without saying anything, but Katara felt weird doing that. Not to say her current way wasn't equally as awkward.

She saw Sokka waiting outside her room when she returned to the Ladies Rooms. He had a handful of rolled scrolls in his fingers, his thumbs and face smudged with ink.

"I need you to draft these better," Sokka said, holding up the papers, causing half to lose their precarious position and tumble to the ground.

Katara welcomed him into her room. Taking only one look at Sokka's near illegible notes, Katara knew he'd been having the same thoughts that she had been.

That, each day that went on, was one more day of Zuko and Katara stealing time that wasn't theirs. That it was one day closer to a Fire Sage commanding Zuko to pick a wife and Katara having to say goodbye. One day nearer to the inevitable end. One more day that their people reaped the benefits of her presence in food, supplies, and other goods, but one day of become more reliant on this. Even with the promise of a trade set up, they had become woefully used to the thrice-weekly shipments from the Fire Nation.

Her people were enjoying the food as it came. And Ozai wasn't the sort to encourage them to go out on their own. He sent food that would spoil if not eaten quickly, leaving them dependent. They needed to be looking toward the future, to surviving on their own. There would come a day that the shipments would no longer come. They'd have to trade their own wares, prepare. Or, worst case scenario but hardly an impossible one, there may come a day in which Zuko was captured or overthrown or killed, and Azula took the throne, and the Southern Water Tribe would get nothing but soldiers and weapons and shackles on their arms.

The first parchment: a green house. Sokka had also grabbed a Farmer's Almanac and the pair scoured through, looking for the most resilient plants for their climate. They bounced ideas off of each other to make it useful in the winter as well; harnessing the little sun they got to bounce off mirrors, heating it with ever-going fires, building an igloo around it to build up heat...all good ideas, but none that could be confirmed until tried.

They drew up plans for smoke-houses and pickling cans. They looked at how to dig stores underground that would not collapse.

They discussed how to make better houses.

Hours into their talks, with Katara's fingers just as dirtied as Sokka's, she gave him a soft, sisterly smile.

"What? I have something on my face or something?" Sokka said. He did, but that's not what caused her expression.

"You're going to be a good chief one day," Katara murmured.

Sokka punched her arm lightly. "You will too."

It wouldn't be the same. She'd be a chief like her mother or Bato was. Sokka, though...he was always meant to lead.

Sokka got up, stretching his arms. In his clumsiness, he knocked the papers off Katara's desk. He leaned down to shuffle the papers back into groups of her things versus their things, but became drawn to one sheet. Katara peered over his shoulder to see her notes of possible weapons she could use in the upcoming match, and if it would change if she could know who she'd be up against. What weapons would work best across the board, since she would not know.

"Oh, yeah, that," Katara said, trying to grasp the sheet from his fingers, but he held tight.

"Katara," Sokka sighed. "When you were born, I promised dad I'd protect you. That's what brothers do. You know you've made that unbelievably hard?"

"Like you run away from danger. You're no better than I am." Katara rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious." Sokka's voice was quiet. "You've probably had the same thoughts about this whole thing. That you can't just let things go and Ozai knows this and he'll use it against you. He could kill you, and no one would blink an eye, if done in the sham of his completion."

"Yeah." Katara's fingers twirled around her hair loops. One word, that's all that she needed to say.

"I," Sokka's finger's ripped through the parchment, "Is it worth it? This? For him?"

"Sokka-"

"If I don't say this now, I'll hate myself. You'll hate me for saying it, but at least the thought will be there. If you get called and it's against someone you know wouldn't hesitate to kill you, throw the fight. Don't engage. Let them win and walk away alive."

"You're right, I do hate you for saying that," Katara snapped angrily. "I wasn't taught to just back down from a challenge, and neither were you!"

"I was taught when to know that a battle isn't worth it! Dad told me that not every battle is worth your life, most aren't! I was taught to stay alive!"

"But what if this is the war?" Katara asked, her voice growing near frantic, "Because, if I throw it, I know I'm going home-"

"How is that different than now?" Sokka demanded. "How is that any different. You know how this ends. You know it."

Katara stood, biting her cheeks to hold back her tears. "You don't get it. If I throw the match, that's a day on the calendar. A date of the end that I'm just waiting up to, dreading. Knowing my time is up. It's like if we were told what day we'd die on, we'd all spend our whole lives worrying up until that point. If I win it, there's more time with him, I don't know how much, but it's more time. You don't get how badly I want that time."

A flicker of something across Sokka's face, like a pain that she knew well. "Katara, I...I get it. Not just saying it to say it. I know what you mean."

Katara's whole tirade dropped, just for a second. Sokka's face was red, and his fingers ripped apart a tiny piece of parchment. It was the same nervous tic that Katara had. Understanding, at least in one way, flooded her. How had she not noticed her brother falling in love, with someone Katara couldn't guess, right in front of her?

"You don't mean-" she began. "Who?"

Sokka gnawed on his lip, and opened his mouth.

"Sokka? Katara?"

Zuko tapped on Katara's door. Sokka seemed all too pleased to be saved by his interruption, practically sprinting over to open the door.

"Hey, Zuko. What's up, man?"

"Glad you two are together. I have a little surprise," he said.

Sokka grasped his chest. "For me? You shouldn't have, darling. But I thought we weren't going tell Katara, she's the jealous type, you know," he said, giving Zuko a saucy wink. Zuko just snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, ew, stop." Katara shuddered.

"Not that sort of surprise." Zuko looked equally horrified. "Katara, I wanted to tell you that I've secure and hired a master swordsman to aid you for the match, to teach you sword fighting. I've been saying for a while that you should learn a secondary skill, since bending is a weapon that - as Ty Lee has shown - can easily be taken away."

"Awesome!"

Katara's eyes shone with excitement, until she truly thought about it. "Wait, just for me? Zuko, I'm concerned that the other girls will realize this is blatant favoritism for you to  _just_  give me lessons. I know our affections aren't exactly hidden, but this goes too far, no matter how much I appreciate the sentiment."

Zuko just smirked. "What do you take me for? A fool?" He turned to Sokka. "Sokka, I've hired you a swordsman. I do expect you to attend, not just for show, but because I also think it would be good for you to learn this as well. So, here I am, giving you – Sokka - the paper that officially has your name on it."

"Oh!" Sokka said, nodding. "Sneaky, sneaky." He laughed.

"What?" Katara stood, coming to stand by the pair of boys.

"It's why I was glad you two were already together for this," Zuko said, tilting his head toward Sokka.

"Because, dear sister, if you were to accidentally see the time and location of my first couple lessons with this master dude, and were to show up in the annoying way you happen to do, and you were to happen to learn a few tricks during my lesson, well, who could call that favoritism?" Sokka explained with a wicked grin.

Katara felt a smile curl over her face.

Zuko gave a sigh of relief, patting Sokka's shoulder. "I think I might love you, Sokka," he teased, clearly pleased someone else ran on his level of cleverness and strategizing.

Sokka rolled up the lesson plans, wiping away a fake tear. "Right back at you, bud."

XXxxXX

That was not the only surprise that Zuko had in store for the Water Tribe siblings, as it would come to be. He hadn't wanted to say anything then, in case his second plans fell through, but two days later, Katara got a message delivered on a silver platter, with all the pomp and circumstance of a usual Royal Missive.

_Princess Katara,_

_As our efforts to broker a trade agreement between your tribe and the Fire Nation progress, it has been brought to my attention that it may do me well to become better accustomed with some of the traditions of your tribe. Specifically speaking, to experience a fishing expedition through your eyes, as to better understand the ways of your people going forward. Therefore, today you and your brother-the Southern Water Tribe representative-will be accompanying me on a Fire Nation fishing boat for a very educational day. Expect to be gone a full day. Food will be provided, so only bring anything you think would aid my teachings._

_Cordially,_

_Prince Zuko_

Katara had a feeling there was more to this, but she couldn't figure out what. If it had been just her, she would have chalked it up to a creative date. The combination of her and her brother? Not exactly romantic.

Still, she arrived at the front gates to the palace early the next morning in her traditional fishing garb, or the closest approximation due to her lack of usual outfits and adjusted for the humid temperature. She was happy to see Sokka wearing a version of his traditional garb too, so she didn't look completely out of place. He was lugging behind him a basket where they often kept fish clean and cold.

What was even more hilarious to her was that Zuko was decked out in a similar look, except in the rosy colors the Fire Nation so seemed to favor. It was laughable, but also strange, because there were things that were markedly Southern Water Tribe to his outfit. Katara wondered where he found that on such a short notice. Or, she reasoned, this had been in the works for longer than she knew (which, that did upset her a little).

Either way, it was about an hour down to the docks, just like when she'd arrived. She had not been so far out into the city since coming here all those months ago. She hadn't been on a boat since she arrived, which may have been the weirdest realization of them all. As a child, and growing up, she'd spent more of her life on fishing canoes than she had on ice.

The talk from the palace to the wharf was safe; although they were alone in the palanquin, there were guards riding on ostrich horses close enough by to overhear. So, they talked about the weather of late (wet, hot, nothing new), of the new teas that General Iroh had been passing around during meal times, and of the colors that the Hall of Histories may be painted, and if either of them had strong convictions toward or against a truly obnoxious yellow shade that apparently Iroh had chosen.

Once they arrived at the harbor, Zuko was quick to get rid of the guards. When they protested, he asked Sokka if the Southern Water Tribe fished with guards, which was met with a derisive snort, and that was the end of that argument. Plus, he argued, he'd spent more than a few years on a boat himself. He was very well versed in sailing jargon, and did know how to man a Fire Nation vessel, especially one as small as the boat they were taking. It was larger than any of their fishing canoes or even war ships, but against the largeness of the ship Katara had been brought here on, it was in fact laughable even.

They also didn't have time to talk once they were maneuvering out of the harbor. Zuko seemed to have planned this precisely, for the ship needed no more than three people to run it. Once they were safely out of sight of the shoreline - or any ships for that matter - and the anchor had been dropped, Katara came up to the top decks.

"Okay, are we actually fishing?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Don't see why not," Zuko shrugged. "But no, it's not the primary reason for this trip."

"It sure is a good cover though, eh?" Sokka was preening. "Brilliant, don't you say?"

"I take it this was your idea?" Katara snorted. Then, she frowned. "How often do you two talk?"

"I am  _actually_  the Southern Water Tribe representative and we are  _actually_  trying to work out a reasonable trade deal, so more than you think," Sokka pointed out. "But no, this little brain child of mine...ingenious."

"Yeah, yeah. Off your high horse. I may have thought of it too, had I had time to breathe and think properly of late." Zuko shoved the basket across the wooden planks to Katara. Cautiously, she opened the top of the lid and felt a mixture of relief and terror at all one. The journal was staring back up at her. Which meant the powder wasn't far beneath it.

"Oh."

"This way, we have a paper trail. A reason to go out to the middle of nowhere on the water," Sokka explained, kneeling.

"I am also going out tomorrow on a different boat with Yue, Arrluck, and Hahn to make this whole excursion even more believable." Zuko grimaced. "Also Sokka's idea. A good one, I can't deny."

"Well, you like Yue." Katara played with her fingernails. More than 'like,' she reminded herself. She had a feeling Yue was on the shortlist of Zuko's choices.

"Yeah, but add Hahn into any situation and it just makes it so much worse," Sokka reminded her. "Thank La I don't have to go out tomorrow. And, to think, you'll probably actually have to spend a full day learning about Northern Traditions. We'll give ya a crash course, in case someone asks, but let's be real."

"I'm just glad we're putting this whole matter to rest. It gave me anxiety to have it around all the time," Katara said decisively. "So, what's the plan?"

"We rip each page out of the journal and dip it in water to make the colors bleed. Then, we burn the pages to dust and spread it out over the lake," Zuko said, holding the journal.

"And the powder?"

Sokka lifted out a gigantic metal ball, likely what was making the basket so heavy.

"Toph wrapped the sucker in twelve sheets of metal. Nothing's getting out. With Zuko's help here, they carefully covered the original dust in molten metal, just to be super-duper safe. We sink this to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again. And, if by some bizarre chance it does wash up, no one's getting inside of this," Sokka said, holding it much more casually than he ever had in his life.

"Well, let's get to work, team." Zuko clapped his hands.

"See? That's why I think we still need a cool team name!" Sokka whined.

Both Zuko and Katara ignored him.

They all took to their jobs. Sokka filled a bucket with water and started ripping the pages and gleefully dunking them into the water. Zuko burnt each soaked page handed to him in a small basin. Katara was passed the ball, and she went over to the other side of the ship, dropping it into the bay. The splash of water was satisfying.

She was able to waterbend, feeling the sea part as the metal ball sank farther and farther down into the depths of the water. It was extremely deep, thank Tui and La. She maneuvered it to the bottom, and then pushed and pulled the water currents to her best ability near the ocean floor, covering the ball until it was buried a few feet down. It was tedious work, since controlling water so far away was not an easy task, and it was quite the strain to cover it. Katara didn't want to do anything about this job half-assed.

She finished just about the time that Sokka and Zuko were done too. The last thing to do was to spread the ashes around the boat. And, silently, they did, as though paying tribute to all the airbenders and citizens alike who had been killed by these monsters. Then, no one spoke as they watched the blackened dust sink deeper and deeper until it was gone.

"Well," Katara's voice was unexpectedly hoarse, "It's done."

"Finally!" Sokka's voice was much brighter. "I think we deserve a job well done," he said with a smirk. He went back into the basket.

"Sokka, you don't mean-"

"Of course, sis." Sokka pulled out a jar of clear liquid. "You may have your sake and fancy alcohols, Zuko, but in the South, we have Pearl Algae. It's shared by comrades after a good hunt or fishing trip, a job well done, and I would say this qualifies as a job well done."

"Where'd you even get that?" Katara asked, sighing.

"Dad."

Sokka unscrewed the bottle, taking a swig. He smacked his lips, grinning, holding it out to Zuko. Zuko raised an eyebrow, but lifted it to his lips. He took a much larger drink than anyone ever should, and immediately began to cough.

"You find that enjoyable?"

"Burns, right?" Sokka's eyes were glittering. "Puts some hair on your chest! Makes you a man, er, warrior," he added at Katara's disapproving frown.

"Burns, sure. Burns like it's trying to kill me." Zuko was still sputtering. "Let me try it again."

"Atta boy!"

"Oh, stop it!" Katara said. "It's gross and after a fourth of that jar, you won't know up from down. Plus, it has zero taste."

Zuko took a much less generous sip. "Well, that's for sure. What is this made out of?"

"Algae. And Katara's just a spoil-sport." Sokka waved her away. "It's traditional."

"It's for getting smashed quickly," Katara argued. "And I swear, we do have better drinks. This is not all we have to offer."

"I hate to say it, but this would sell well here." Zuko waved around the jar. "Especially in bars."

"Ha-ah!" Sokka waved a triumphant finger at Katara.

She rolled her eyes, leaving the boys to their drinking. She went and sat on the top of the boat, staring out at the vast expanse of the sea. If she ignored the heat, it was so barren that she could almost pretend she was home.

Zuko came and found her after a while, bringing sandwiches. She gratefully took one.

"No more Pearl Algae for you?"

"Someone has to be sober to drive the boat back. At this point, I don't think it will be your brother." Zuko laughed. "That's quite something. Enjoying the view?" he added, sarcasm heavy on his lips.

"Beautiful," Katara breathed, but she meant it. There was something utterly enchanting about a view of just nothing for miles and miles.

"Well," Zuko settled himself down, crossing his legs to eat with her, "If you go back this way, that's the Fire Nation Harbor. North takes you to Ember Island, a beach city. South, to the Black Cliffs, which are really volcanoes. If you keep going straight, you'll hit the Earth Kingdom. Well, first you'll probably nudge along the Crescent Islands, but eventually, you'll likely hit Pirate's Pier. Named because of the Pirates that trade there. Or, some of the other endless shores of Earth Kingdom."

Katara was rapt with attention. "Really? You seem to have a great handle on navigation."

"You could say that."

"Is the rest of the Fire Nation like this? Or, is it hotter the farther you go? Colder?"

"The Beach Town gets really hot, but the seas are calm and soothing, thus a popular destination. The Crescent Islands are about the same temperature, but mostly built on rocks. The Volcano lands, near the base, are a little colder. They're not usually active, so you don't have to worry about that. You don't-" He began to ask, but then broke off, looking embarrassed.

Katara knew what he was about to say. "No, of course I haven't a chance to go elsewhere. The South and here are the only places I've ever been. Even as a Princess." She leaned back on the hull of the metal ship, enjoying basking. "Though, to be honest, when I talk to the other contestants, it's not unusual. Most girls have never been outside of their own cities before the Choice."

"You're joking."

"No, truly. Even when suitors were being paraded around, it's a man's job to travel. Men are warriors. Men go out on the road. Women learn how to tend to the house. Why would they ever need to leave?" Katara sneered with a tinge of anger. "You, of course, spent your whole life traveling. I'm sure it doesn't feel foreign to you. But, truthfully, has Azula traveled much?"

Zuko quieted, answering her question by saying nothing. Oh, she was sure Azula had hit up some of the Fire Nation cities, but she had her confirmation that outside of their own nation, she had not the opportunities Zuko had.

There was silence. Katara sat up, shielding her eyes.

Zuko had been...off. At first, she'd thought it was about the whole business with the journal and the powder. He was still nervous now, so it couldn't be that.

"What?"

"Huh?" Zuko asked, a little distracted.

"Something is eating you, and you don't seem like the person to bang back shots of basically cleaning alcohol. What's wrong?"

Her mind leapt to the worst; that he was about to tell her that tomorrow it would be up. He'd be picking someone else tomorrow. She'd be going home. He'd be marrying someone else.

Zuko's eyebrows knit together. "I just heard from my Uncle. Zhao thinks he has a lead, out somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. He's taking his troops - Aang included - tonight."

Oh. This wasn't the worst she had thought, but this was undeniably the worst of things. So much worse than her own love problems.

"No," Katara breathed. "Does Aang know?"

"I'm sure he's being told now."

"What do you think will happen if they find someone?"

Zuko dropped his head into his knees. "Frankly, I don't even want to know. I just don't."

Katara, quiet for a second, just pursed her lips. Then, tentatively, she nudged Zuko's arm with her shoulder. Without thinking, Zuko moved her arm to pull her next to him. If either noticed about how domestic and comfortable the motion was, neither spoke. Instead, they just enjoyed the magnificent view of endless sea.

XXxxXX

The day was hot and dry, and the only relief was when the water splashed against the docks, showering the gathered men in sea salt. When Aang inhaled, it felt like he'd stepped onto the sun, and his Fire Nation standard uniform did little to offset the immense heat. He would take this over the Fire Nation weather, still, since if he were in the Fire Nation, he'd be sweating profusely.

"Think we'll find 'im?" one of the recruits asked, scratching underneath his helmet. "The tip seemed sketchy, at best. None of the others have panned out..."

"I hope so!" Aang winced at the enthusiasm of the second person's response. "We don't want those sorts alive. Gotta get rid of them right away, before it becomes a problem. Like weeds."

"I guess so," The first one sounded a little unsure. "I just don't want my family in no danger. If they are dangerous, like Fire Lord Ozai says."

"Of course they are!" The second huffed. "I wanna look these terrorists in the face. When Commander Zhao smokes them out, I'd kill to be in the room with him."

"I didn't meant to say Fire Lord Ozai is a'lyin, I just-,"

"Commander Zhao will pick whoever he feels is most correct to be in there, if he wants anyone at all. I think we should stop talking about it, lest the vermin overhear and escape," Aang said in a controlled voice, trying not to stumble over 'vermin'.

 _Very good, very logical_ , Kasata purred in his mind,  _cunning._

"Oh wow." The first soldier's eyes widened underneath his helmet. "You're right. You're right."

"No wonder Commander Zhao prefers Guardsman Kuzon," A third voice whispered, but this did effectively manage to quiet any talk about killing airbenders. Aang was of a mixed mind to be recognized as a favorite; on one hand, he did need to have a direct line from Zhao about the comings and goings. However, to be the favorite, meant to be appealing to this devilish figure. No matter how much you tried to keep your pretend life away from your real life, eventually, the two mixed. Years living at the Royal Palace taught him that.

"They got him! They found him!" a recruit called, running fast toward the milling soldiers, panting. He approached the docks, throwing off his helmet and running his fingers through his hair. "A real honest-to-Agni airbender!"

The bedlam that occurred was monumental. Aang was shoved aside by the stomping of soldiers and townspeople, to see the first actual airbender that he'd seen in over 100 years. Well, Dhakiya was an airbender, but he hadn't known, so that didn't count.

He had a horrible fear that this would be Dhakiya, because Zuko had been extremely tight-lipped about her current location. However, it was not a young girl at all that they dragged out, but a weathered man. He was already bleeding from a couple places, and he seemed to be more of a bag of bones than anything else. He stumbled over the cobblestones, and his clothes showed a man of little wealth. He was roughly shoved by the two guards, while Zhao paraded behind like a proud father.

Did any of his comrades honestly think a man that already looked an inch away from death posed any threat at all? Even if the airbenders were dangerous (which, surprise, they weren't.)

Aang positioned himself near Zhao.

"This really the airbender?" Aang knew he should have perhaps thrown in an insult, but he couldn't bring himself to, not at the ragged look on the man's face already. Sunken in brown eyes, light brown hair. He looked nothing like the airbenders of old, those that had coloring much like Aang's.

"Aye, son," Zhao said, kicking the man's legs as he hobbled to stand. "Coward was hiding out in some woman's potato cellar. Everyone gets what's coming to them eventually, though."

"I sure hope so," Aang said truthfully, looking at Zhao. He hoped this man would miraculously be let free, and he hoped Zhao was eaten by a moose-bear.

"Good townspeople," Zhao announced, tugging the man to his knees in front of him. "We require a location to interrogate this dangerous man. If one of you would be so kind to offer up a location, perhaps a boat, we will make sure your town is safe from his kind and any others who may think they can outsmart the Fire Nation."

There was an uncomfortable murmur that rose through the townspeople. Despite being commanded by the Fire Nation, none of the Earth Kingdomers seemed overly excited to offer up their place.

"We would, of course, be willing to give compensation," Zhao added after no one came forward.

A man with a full white beard edged his way forward. "How much are we talking?"

"Dear!" Assumedly his wife, a petite woman with gray hair pulled into a bun, a decorative stick through the middle, pulled on his arm, casting not quite a sympathetic look toward the airbender, but a look more than nothing.

"We need the money," the man said firmly. "We have a boat. It's not much, but it's what I can give."

Zhao threw a deceptively friendly arm over his shoulder. "I'm sure, sir, a proper price can be worked out…"

Hours later, Aang was sitting at a restaurant near the boat, legs bouncing with anxiety. They'd set up quickly. Zhao had taken some of the older military members on board. It had been hours; Aang was horrified to think of what they were doing to that poor man. His mind was whirling with ways to possibly get onto that boat, to fix this.

"Gonna eat that?" the soldier with the family nudged Aang. He looked down at his plate of rice, raising his head from his palm.

"Hmm? Oh, no…" He trailed off. He couldn't imagine eating. His stomach felt like someone was shaking it violently. This man could be dead already, and his whole reason for going along with this charade would be for nothing. What good was he as the Avatar if he couldn't save one old man?

"It is not going to rain!" The same old couple who had sold their usage of the boat to Zhao walked by the harbor restaurant. The man pointed to the clear as clear skies. The woman was arguing furiously with him.

"Well, if it were, you gave our boat away, so we can't get to those buckets aboard anyway."

"I leant it out, for this!" The man held the bag of money aloft. "And it's a perfect day. Not a cloud in sight," he said. The woman threw up her hands, stalking away.

Aang frowned, standing up, his helmet cradled under his arm.

"Ugg, no more rain," the guy who took his rice moaned. "The Fire Nation is floodin' enough without it."

Aang shot a near-friendly smile (no use alienating his fellow guards quite yet) but was asking the round table of voices. Gopan was offering his wisdom on weather patterns, but nothing conclusive could be made. Gopan bemoaned the fact he was only watching, claiming he used to be able to 'feel it in his bones'. Aang wasn't about to go through the exhaustion of switching minds to confirm this.

Still, Aang, ever-looking for a window, silently slinked aboard the fishing vessel, staying out of sight.

Within the hour, the skies darkened and the rain began to pitter-patter onto the deck. The town itself nearly cleared out. Aang saw most of Zhao's men gathering under awnings, using their capes as shields. Aang pressed himself against the side of the shack on the boat, inhaling.

 _If there are any Gods listening, now would be the time to really help your favorite Avatar out…_  Aang prayed in his mind. This was, of course, met with some responses and offended scoffs about being the 'favorite Avatar of the Gods' but eventually Kyoshi shut them all up.

Whether his pleas had been answered or the storm rolling in was set to be terrible either way, soon the rain was like tiny arrows on his skin and the wind howled like a dying polar bear-dog. The ship rocked like someone was playing with it, despite still being very close to the safety of the docks. Men rushed to tie it down more securely, but before anything could be done, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky like the sun, before cracking. The next thing Aang smelled was burning wood, and as he peered around the hut, he saw with glee that the ship had caught fire.

T _alk about divine intervention,_  he thought with a sigh of relief.

He saw Zhao come up to the deck to see why they'd begun slowly sinking, and was preoccupied with a whole very uneasy crew. Aang wasted no time. He, light on his feet, tiptoed down to the lower decks.

There was only one room, so it was easy to find where the old man was being held. One guard was left to guard it.

"Commander Zhao says to go up on deck!" Aang tried to sound commanding.

 _He was a carpenter before this,_  Yangchen spoke evenly.  _I made sure to remember things like this._

"Part of the hull is blown out," Aang continued. "He sent me down because you'd know how to patch that. Go, now!"

Apparently, knowing the bit about his former occupation and that he might be well fit to help with such a disaster caused him to move.

This just left a door between Aang and the prisoner. It was locked, but one swift airbending blast (after making sure no one, and absolutely no one was around) opened it quickly.

Aang shut the door behind him.

"Ohh, no more…" the man moaned. Aang knelt next to him. His head hung low and his arms were tied behind a chair. His whole face was either covered in blood or bruises.

"Hey, hey, can you just hold on a little longer? I'm going to get you out of here," Aang whispered.

"Cruel tactic," the man wheezed. It sounded like a lung was punctured. "Too cruel…"

"It's no joke," Aang said frantically. "I'm here to save you."

The man lifted his head a little, breathing hard. "I'm sorry, but after today, I'm not inclined to trust anyone."

"Would you trust the Avatar?" Aang whispered. He very slowly lifted up a tendril of water with his hand, while making a flickering flame in his other. And, just to really drive the point home, he unlaced his ribbons on his fingers just enough for the blue arrow to peek out.

"Oh, spirits, it really is you." The man's eyes widened. "Am I dead?"

"No, still alive. You're going to stay that way." Aang rose. "I can't take you out now, but I wanted to give you hope. I'll need to find a reason to take you out of here, people would see if I tried to do it now. If I play my cards right, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to save you, still. If you can just hold out a little bit longer-"

"Avatar, please," the man said, his voice pausing Aang. "I don't have longer."

"Well, Zhao wants you alive. For information. He wouldn't kill you," Aang said slowly. The man gave a toothless grin, but it wasn't a kind one. Aang was sure some of those missing teeth was Zhao's fault.

"That's my fear. I am near the end, my friend. I know that keeping quiet is imperative, but the pain...forgive me, but there is not much more I can take before I tell your leader all that I know. And, if I do so, other, younger lives will be lost."

"More of us?" Aang echoed in horror.

"Near here. But I'm about to break. It's too hard."

Aang swallowed thickly. He could hardly blame the man, for he'd already endured so much. He had never asked for this. He'd never trained as a soldier. He was just an everyday merchant. This wasn't fair.

"Okay, okay." All the avatars in his mind were talking at once, and he tried to wade through their thoughts. "We need to get you out now. I guess I can-"

"You're undercover?" the man asked.

"Yes," Aang said, a question he could answer right now.

"Then you cannot risk blowing it. I am an old man. My life was near its natural end anyway," he said, a certain resolution settling over him. A peace that Aang didn't think he'd see.

"What...what do you mean?"

"Avatar, you need to kill me. Kill me so that I do not reveal where they are and more lives are not lost. We both know as soon as your leader gets what he needed, he'll kill me anyway. It is not unreasonable to think my heart gave out or the wounds were too severe." His smile was brighter now. "I will lay down my life for theirs and for the Avatar."

Aang stumbled back against the walls of the small room. "No, you don't understand! I can't! I'm...I'm an airbender by birth. We're pacifists."

"And, I mean no disrespect, but that may have gotten you killed 100 years ago," the man said. "There's eight of them. There is a girl who's only ten. These men cannot get her."

"No, there has to be another way," Aang argued.

"There isn't," The man said, which deep down, Aang knew to be true. He refused to admit it. He turned around, fingers in his black hair, panting as he frantically raced through options. Options that would get this man out of the ship and out of this town alive without blowing his cover or endangering the lives of the other benders…

_"We need you, Aang."_

Aang inhaled hard, like he was sucking in sea water. All of a sudden, he wasn't in the tiny boat room, he was on Appa. The storm, very much like this one, raged around him. He couldn't control Appa, the winds were too ferocious. He was falling, falling...Appa was trying to regain flight, but his fur was far too wet. He hadn't meant to end like this, he'd just meant to go out to clear his head, to visit Kuzon or Bumi and figure all this out. The Fire Nation had been coming closer and closer to their home. He was only 12!

Then, he crashed into the water. He could feel the dark, black sea swallowing him up as he swallowed more of it. It burned in his chest, and he had one thought; this is how he died. No one would ever know.  _Gyatso_  would never know. And Appa, oh, spirits, he hadn't meant to do this to him. He didn't mean to. He needed to save Appa…

_We need you...we need you...we need you…_

The voice in his head was not one of the Avatars, but Gyatso. It was more than a memory washing over him, it was the feeling of absolute guilt and anger and fear he'd managed to shove down for the past 4 years, ever since waking to see Zuko over him.

_Why'd you disappear?_

He was back in the boat, just like that, sling-shot back. His hand was against the wall, and when he picked it up, he realized he'd burned his imprint into the wall. His whole body was covered in a cold sweat.

"What," His voice was rough, "Did you just say?"

"I said...I need you, Avatar."

For once in his life, without Ty Lee's aid, his mind was silent.

This man needed him. His job as the Avatar was to save lives. And, he was going to save eight, and possibly more. There was no other way out of this.

"Okay." Aang swallowed, near tears. "Before I do it, what's your name?"

"Roddon, Avatar."

"Roddon, the spirits will welcome you. And I'll never forget you."

Three minutes later, Aang slipped back out and into the heavy rain and forced himself to make it back to shore and talk with the other recruits, per Kasata's instructions to have an alibi.

Twenty minutes later, when the ship's hole would be patched and everything would be back in order, and two minutes after Zhao and one man would go back in to continue the interrogations, the man would die with a smile on his face. Official cause of death, whispered amongst the men? Injuries during interrogation got the best of him. Zhao would punish his supervising interrogator heavily, but Aang couldn't feel bad about that.

He had figured, as an Avatar, if he could heal with waterbending, could he also kill?

The confirmation made him feel all sorts of uneasy.

They stayed in the Harbor Town one more night. Aang, having gotten instructions right before he left the room from Roddon, went to a small inn for dinner called 'The Weary Traveler' and turned off the lanterns in the third window from the door. This was a message to the other airbenders that it was not safe, if they hadn't already figured it out, and to continue on further into the Earth Kingdom, and above all, to trust no one.

They would travel back to the Fire Nation in stony silence, none as scarily quiet as Zhao. It was to the point that no one met his eye and everyone scurried around him like he might throw a man off a ship at any moment, which is not an unrealistic thought.

And Aang?

He felt as though he'd collapsed into his own mind, letting autopilot (or, more accurately, another Avtar) take over basic interactions, because he couldn't be bothered. If anyone noticed, they didn't say. Or, perhaps they were all considering their own necks and how much they enjoyed them being attached to their bodies to care.

Back in the Fire Nation, Aang found his feet taking him to Ty Lee's door late into the night, far later than it was acceptable by any means for someone other than the Prince to come calling at a lady's room.

He realized this, only after he saw the name near her door, and saw where he'd ended up. Frowning, he turned to leave, but the door opened suddenly.

Ty Lee was on the other side, her hair out of her braid, her eyes wide.

"Oh, Kuzon," she crooned, "Your aura is black."

He expected revulsion, horror. Instead, her eyes turned liquid as she pulled him into the room. "Are you okay?"

The question was so unexpected, so kind that it broke Aang out of his walls. He gave a hard shake of his head, and let Ty Lee wrap her arms around him. He hugged her back, burrowing his head into her neck, holding back sobs.

He did not speak a word the entire night, but somehow, Ty Lee still knew it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I sent this to my beta to proof, I just titled it 'ANGST' which I think is accurate XD
> 
> How did you all like my spin on the episode 'The Storm'? We'll be re-doing quite a few of these episodes in this world, so just a look of what's to come ;)
> 
> So I'm FINALLY caught up on the review points! If you don't know what I'm talking about, if you review 10 times, you get a couple/short write by me themed of your choice! So, the people that have earned one since this story started are as follows: WritingAddict169, ObsidianButterfly, and Kailaene. If you have one from the Prince's Choice, you know who you are (if you don't, read the last chap there, cuz I will have told you). If you want to redeem it, just tell me what couple you'd like, and the theme/prompt/story what have you for me to write it! I'm a little behind on 'em, I have six in the wings, but I just got a job where I basically have two hours a day to write, so hopefully I'll start posting those soon. If you go look at the story on this 'Karios' you'll see examples of previous ones I've written. 
> 
> Anyway, review all ya'lls. I had the WORST night last night; my car got towed and I had to pay $280 to get it back, and then when I was driving back to my bf's house alone in a city I don't know at all, I got rear-ended. And then the utter ass drove away before I could get his info. I got my shoulder yanked and I called in a police report, because I wanted my insurance to be covered and all, but it was -3 degrees, so I was freezing in my car anyway (even with the heat on) and managed to pick up a cold. Talk about a totally not fun night.
> 
> So please, review to make me happier XD


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT WAS 60 DEGREES HERE TODAY. SPRING IS COMING. I KNOW IT IS.

"Well, go on, pick one up," Sword Master Piandao instructed. "Attack me."

Katara sat on the pile of cushions a maid had taken care to drag out to the zen garden where Sokka would be meeting his instructor. There was an array of swords shoved into the sand, and Sokka wound around their hilts with a careful examination, wiggling one or two there, flicking one here. Katara resisted the urge to roll her eyes; she knew exactly what sword he'd go for. This was all for show, to act like he was some great connoisseur of metal weapons.

Katara, of course, was not allowed to formally take part in these lessons. She was left to sit against the wall, in the shade, sipping iced tea while attempting to soak up any and all information she could. It would only be later, after the official lesson, when she could pick up a sword of her own to spar against Sokka. This way, Piandao could examine Sokka's stance as an observer, and correct to the best of his ability. Katara, however, was going to learn despite the hoops she had to jump through to even be here.

As it was, she was fairly sure Sokka was ignoring her.

She had thought, once they'd disembarked from the ship, that drunk Sokka was the best Sokka to ask about that 'girl' he'd almost told her about. However, at the very mention, he'd clammed up. Katara had pestered, to little avail. He'd lied (very unconvincingly) that it didn't matter, that this girl didn't like him anyway, that he was already over it. Then he'd barfed on her shoes, and that had pretty much ended that sisterly confrontation. She still wasn't sure he hadn't done it on purpose.

Since then, since Katara smelled bullshit a mile away, he had been harder to pin down than Toph usually was. This should have given her an indication that whatever, or whoever it was, it was dangerous. But weren't they all playing with danger, even knowing who Aang was? What was one more ticking time bomb of a secret to add to their ever growing collective list?

She would edge it out of him sooner or later. She was his sister; she knew exactly which buttons to push.

Case in point; Sokka finally settled on a sword near the back of the sand bowl, one that resembled a Southern Carving Axe most prominently. The one Katara knew he'd gravitate toward. Southern Carving Axes, while mostly used to cleave off meat from the carcasses of whales and seals, made terrifying weapons in the heat of battle nonetheless. This wasn't exactly one of their axes, but it was shorter than a traditional sword and curved a little in the blade.

Sokka picked it up, switching it between his palms to work out the equilibrium, before looking at Piandao.

"Please," he repeated, "attack me. I'll even give you a leg up and turn around."

Sokka gave a haughty chuckle. "Okay, but don't say that you didn't ask for this…"

Sokka raised the sword above his head, gave a battle cry that would make the spirits quiver before him, and ran right at Piandao. Katara watched as Piandao, moving lightly on his feet, easily side-stepped Sokka. Before Sokka could turn, Piandao had hooked his heels with the hilt of his own sword, sending Sokka face-first into the sand. Sokka lifted his head, shaking the particles from his hair and wiping them from his tongue. He went to grab his sword, but Piandao put his heel on it, shoving it just out of Sokka's reach. Piandao drove his own sword inches away from Sokka's head, and knelt down. His whole face was bright with amusement.

"How'd I do?" Sokka asked.

"Dismal," Pinadro said, grinning. "But not hopeless."

"Hear that, Katara? I'm not hopeless!" Sokka said, puffing out his chest as he sat up.

"I do have some preliminary notes that I can give you, right now." Piandao helped Sokka into a standing position. He kicked the sword Sokka had picked with the heel of his foot, handing it back out to the young warrior.

"Okay, lay it on me."

"It may serve you well to  _not_  scream prior to attacking, thus alerting your opponent, the rest of the opposing force, and any dogs of your presence."

"But...it's tradition. The wolf's cry." Sokka scratched his head. "To terrify, you know?"

"Very well as that may be," Piandao tilted his head, "May I offer you this to think about? In a whole group, it might be terrifying. One on one? Less so. It also does little to dispel the rumors of the Water Tribe being savages, with their guttural un-human cries. Also, while I don't mean to disparage the Southern Water Tribe's way of fighting - you have managed to stay autonomous - the method in which you wage war, on flat ground and cold temperatures, is to your benefit, but the world around you has progressed. You will find that fighting in a war now is very different. Much more tactical, if you will. So, I will not stop you from your traditions, but if you learn from me, you will be learning the Fire Nation way. Is this something you can accept?"

Sokka swallowed. "Sir, yes. I mean, to say, I didn't-"

"No offence taken." Piandao patted his shoulder. "Let's just move forward, shall we?"

And so they did. Piandao was far less morose than Pakku, Katara noted. He joked around with Sokka, he willingly and often gave advice to correct his technique, and he just overall seemed like a more pleasant person. He commented that he'd been the Royal Swordsman for both of the Royal Children, and he also taught Mai how to use her shirkins. Anyone who had been the master of those three was someone truly terrifying, at least in Katara's mind. Zuko's double swords skills were nearly better than his firebending, and he was indeed a bender that had a strong teacher. Azula, well, Katara had never seen Azula use anything but bending, but she was sure to be horrifying. And Mai? Mai was arguably the one that, out of the three, Katara wouldn't want to meet alone in a dark alleyway.

The first day was instructional, in the way that Piandao took care to go through and discuss all of the swords in the ground. Katara had the forethought to bring a piece of parchment and some ink and furiously took down notes one each of the weapons, knowing Sokka was just going to 'commit this to memory' and likely forget it in a week.

"Each sword or weapon here has a story. A different use, a different history. To pluck a sword from a pile randomly will only take you so far. It is up to you to pick the sword that best fits your needs. Who you are, who you want to be, what you want to use it for. At the end of this session, we will make you your own sword, to all your own qualifications. In the meantime, though, I encourage you to play around with the ones here. Prince Zuko has been so kind as to book this garden patio for the extent of my stay. No one will disturb the swords or training figures set up here, and you will be welcome as you come and go." Although he spoke to Sokka, he looked at Katara, at least fleetingly. She nodded; this is how she'd practice.

The lesson ended after the descriptions of the swords. That, in itself, had already been about two hours. Sokka was gone like a jackrabbit, before Katara got a chance to grab him.

XXxxXX

It seemed impossible to Katara, that with everything going on, that the ladies were still expected to attend meals with the Royal Family as they had before the attack. Or, possibly, the Royal Family was doing this to restore some sense of normality.

Some of the girls, like Maiha and Anasemla, breathed a sigh of relief to be able to return to 'sensible' and 'logical' things. Which was funny, for Katara personally thought that getting entirely dressed up for one meal- food that was usually a little bit too ridiculous for her taste- was the antithesis of sensible. It was downright crazy, and something that Katara would not miss once she left the Palace.

At home, meals were a group event, yes, but it was so much more casual. There wasn't the air of stiffness that seemed to linger here, the baited questions from Ozai or the intense glares from Azula.

Zuko was the only thing that made these meals bearable, but more often than not, he was skipping meals to keep up with the insane amount of work his father expected of him.

Katara thought they'd be dismissed on those days, but instead, they were told to sit through meals with some of his less desirable family, trying not to answer anything wrong. It felt like a test that Katara was never prepared for.

A few girls liked the challenge of impressing Royal Family members. They thought that, maybe, if they made a good enough impression on Ozai, were able to form a daughterly bond with Ursa, or charm Lu Ten, that their rank would shift. Katara thought that was stupid, but all power to them.

The groups had been shaken up once again, and this time, Katara's group was much better. Toph certainty got the short stick, having her designated meal time with Mai, Nadhari, and Avezieh. Smellerbee joked there was some god out there that really didn't like Toph.

Katara was with Suki, Maiha, Ratana, Jin, and Soairse. A respectable, albeit quiet, group. She was grateful Suki was there, otherwise she didn't know who she'd talk to. Well, she'd make friends with others, she reminded herself, as she'd done with all of her other companions here.

She was picking through her lunch, talking to Suki about something sort of silly- the history of tea in the Earth Kingdom- and not something fun like swordplay or fighting stances, ready to accept that it would be another meal without Zuko in attendance. It was the norm, recently. Katara knew she wasn't even the only one to feel this disappointment. In fact, she had less reason than any to feel so morose about it, considering she saw Zuko much more regularly than anyone else, but Katara was so selfless sometimes she allowed herself to be selfish with him.

"I apologize for my tardiness, ladies."

Katara choked on her soup, which was the average response from around the room. Zuko hadn't been to a meal in days.

"Of course not, Prince Zuko, no need to apologize," Suki spoke up first, a sigh of relef escaping her shoulders too, "We know how much you have to do of late."

"Still, I had not wished to have been ignoring any of you," Zuko replied. When he smiled, it really did feel like he was smiling at all of them.

"Why don't you sit, dear? You've only missed the appetizier," His mother said, coming to kiss his cheek. He smiled and blushed a little at her affection, the red on his cheeks such an adorable softness that Katara thought she'd never tie of seeing. The love for his mother was refreshing, comforting.

Zuko rubbed his mother's hand as his eyes gazed around the table, trying to find a seat. There was only one seat left, one next to his father and far away from any of the ladies.

"I can move, of course," His mother offered. Katara tried not to look too excited; Ursa was sitting on her other side, which would mean that Zuko would sit next to her.

"No, that's quite alright," Zuko said. Katara ran her nail across her palm under the table, "Lu Ten, do you mind?"

"Of course not, cousin," Lu Ten said, bowing. Katara sipped her water, hiding her face. She couldn't help it. She felt sort of tossed aside, a little forgotten or unwanted. Which, she considered, is what she told him he should do, not to draw attention to them.

It still hurt.

Lu Ten wasn't a long way away, more or less across and to the left of her seat. Far enough away so that his dismissal to sit next to Katara was still...noticed.

Suki, under the table, patted Katara's leg comfortingly. Jin sent her a winsom smile. Maiha looked pleased, and whispered something in Soaire's ear, who had a grin that Katara had never seen on her face, one of vicious glee.

Luckily, just as Zuko was sitting, the salads were arriving, meaning that there was a flurry of maids and servers, letting the burn settle and ease on Katara's mind.

Zuko talked with almost everyone, except Katara. It almost seemed like he was going out of his way to snub her.

No, snub her wasn't right. He still would glance over to her, like when he was talking to Suki, and he'd get a warm look in his eyes. It was obvious he cared. This was just...strategic. Something Katara repeated to herself over and over.

It was nearing the end of the meal, when a fruity dessert was served, that Katara felt it.

At first, she just thought it was Suki's long dress robes brushing against her leg, and she ignored it. It was a mild tickle, a slight touch near her ankle.

However, when it happened again, it was much more forceful of a touch and ran up the length of her leg, under her dress, from he ankle to her knee.

Katara yelped, thinking it was a spider or a bug, grabbing her leg...nothing was there.

"Princess Katara?"

"I just...poked myself on the knife, my Lady," Katara said, looking to Ursa.

"Are you bleeding?" Azula seemed much to excited at the idea.

"No, it just startled me."

When the feeling occurred yet again, Katara bit her lip to keep from crying out. She felt it rise up higher, on the upper part of her thigh.

She was ready.

Her hand clasped the foreign object under the table and found it...foot-like?

She ran her fingers across what felt like a sock, trying not to frown or make a face. She chatted with Suki, trying not to draw attention to whatever was occurring under the tablecloth.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko give a nearly unnoticed shiver.

She would bet all of her fancy jewels she was drowning in who was on the other end of this mystery foot.

Zuko glanced up her way only as Suki asked him a question.

There was clear amusement, boy-like enojyment, in his eyes. Behind his hand, a shit-eating grin.

His foot rose higher.

Katara startled again, unable to help herself, as his foot went dangerously high. Her face was as hot as the soup they'd been served earlier. Zuko's foot retreated.

"Princess?"

"Knife, again," Katara muttered sourly.

"My, my, you're just an accident waiting to happen today," Lu Ten laughed, completely unaware.

"Something like that." Katara said.

Zuko got up a moment later, apologizing for his early exit, claiming he had some papers to look over. Katara wondered if this was true.

She was a little irked he'd gotten the best of her.

As she watched him leave, she knew it was on. She was absolutely going to find a time to make him as red as he'd made her.

"Katara, you fine?" Suki asked kindly, "You have a war look on your face."

"I'm fine," Katara agreed, but her mind was already forming a game plan. If there was one thing that could be said of Katara, it was that she never quit. Katara liked winning things.

XXxxXX

As it turned out, she'd have a reason to find Sokka later, what with the arrival of a certain letter from GranGran addressed to not just Katara and Sokka, but Pakku as well. Apparently, Pakku had also sent her a letter after the sparring lesson, though perhaps a little more colorful than her grandchildren's. The letter paused all thoughts of how to devilishly get back at Zuko.

She went and banged on Sokka's door.

"Seriously, it's important! GranGran sent me a letter. Stop ignoring me!" She pounded on his door with each word.

"You're not kidding, are you?" He creaked the door open.

"Is this how to get you to pay attention to me?"

"I'm not ignoring you," Sokka muttered sourly.

"Oh, you so are, but we're not going to bicker about this now. We have important family revelations to read," Katara said. She held the letter away from him. "It's addressed to Pakku as well."

"That doesn't bode well. I mean, 'spoiler alert' much? He's totally our grandfather," Sokka said.

"Shh!" Katara shushed him. "Not so loud."

He ran his fingers through his hair, at least looking a tinge embarrassed. "I'll meet you in the arena in like five while you go find Pakku."

And so they met. Three Water Tribe members, all staring at the letter in Katara's hand like it was going to bite.

"Well, get on with it," Sokka urged.

Carefully, Katara broke the seal.

The letter was more like a novel, but perhaps they'd finally get some answers.

"Dear loves; Katara, Sokka, and Pakku," Katara began. Both her and Sokka looked up at Pakku. He did look a bit more flushed than Katara had ever seen him.

"Well, get on with it," he grumbled.

"Right. Uh, okay. By now, it seems you've already guessed a secret I only thought I'd be revealing on my deathbed."

Once again, Sokka and Katara looked to Pakku to see his reaction.

"We're going to be here all night if you two look up at me like damn meerkat-seals every half a sentence!" he griped.

"Well, he's right." Sokka rubbed the back of his neck.

"Fine. I'll read it straight through, no stopping." She stood up on the arena seats, turning her back toward Pakku so as not to be tempted to see the faces her mentor was making. She cleared her throat, and began to read.

_Dear loves; Katara, Sokka, and Pakku._

_By now, it seems you've already guessed a secret I only thought I'd be revealing on my deathbed, if at all. I should have foreseen it; Katara and Sokka, you two are far too intelligent for your own good. And, as soon as I saw Pakku, a part of me knew that this was not going to stay buried for long. So, I've had time to think of how I wanted to write this letter. With that being said, I think I have re-written the letter itself time and time again, never quite finding the right way to explain something that, frankly, has no valid explanation._

_But I owe it to all of you to at least try._

_I suppose the beginning is a good place to start._

_When I was betrothed to Pakku in the North, I was young. I was 16, and he was a good match for me, considering his family was in the upper class of citizens, whereas my family - your ancestors - were in the poor class. I was told I was lucky to have such a match. But, even more unique, we were in love._

_I was set to have it all, or at least all that most girls could have ever wanted. A husband who would care for them, security, their future children's lineage set...yes, it seemed to all be set perfectly. Except, it wasn't._

_I was very much like you, Katara; too stubborn for my own good, and worldly. I was not blind to the ways that the North was that was so antiquated, so backwards. I was enraged often and dismissed even more so. Among the many, many issues within the North, one that I recognized was that I - as a woman - would always be a second class citizen. My greatest achievement would only ever be the children I bear and I would fade into the background, a faceless and nameless generic woman, despite having so much more to offer. I was interested in politics, in health, in weather, in astrology...and, as soon as I became of marrying age, I was told to put these 'silly things' aside, whereas the men were only encouraged of this._

_Pakku and I would fight constantly over this. Of all the wedges in our relationship, this was the biggest. He had no reason to see my views. He was who the system supported, who the system was built for and by. I knew that as much as he loved me, and I never doubted that, I was not going to change his mind._

_And that was a life I could not live._

_At this point, the North had a new and burgeoning relationship under the Fire Nation rule. We'd cut off communication from our sister tribe nearly eight years ago. I managed to find some letters kept that described the South as a more welcoming society, one in which women were treated the same as men. I had no way of knowing if the South still acted as such, or if the plan forming in my mind would end in disappointment, but I knew I would hate myself if I never tried._

_There were some women who were, like me, disenchanted about the way the North was, but too scared to try to leave. They were instrumental in helping me leave, however, and I'll always remember them. Even if they did not think themselves to be brave, they were, more than they gave themselves credit for. One woman stole food for my journey, another a boat. One planned the route I would take. One listened in on her husband's lessons and then taught me, in secret and against the law, how to navigate by only the stars and the wind. My best friend sewed me the warmest parka I've ever put on to this day, so I would not freeze on the journey._

_On the first day of the Summer Solstice, I left. I knew the festivities would give me the best chance to leave without any notice, as most people would be starting to get drunk and feed on the year's harvest. I was also set to marry Pakku on the third day, and I was terrified if I waited any longer and married him, I would convince myself into living this life, as so many other women before me had done. That I would be charmed by him, that he would give me all the reasons in the world to stay._

_It was the most terrifying thing I'd ever done, but I pushed myself out into the sea and sailed to the South. I kept the betrothal necklace, because despite it all, I still loved Pakku and knew it was unlikely I would ever love someone as much. He was not a bad person; he isn't. He may be grumpy, but he was just a person who grew up in a way that he was taught to be normal. I knew I was breaking his heart. My heart, as I went farther and farther from home, was breaking too._

_Arriving in the South just days after the Summer Solstice, I was met with enthusiastic warm welcomes. I was put to work immediately, and taught along the way all the things the North would have never allowed; hunting, battling, ship mending, astrology, sailing...my gamble had paid off._

_During this time, I became close friends with the chieftain, Kesuk. He was not much older than I, having taken over the majority of the tribe along with his younger brother after the passing of his father in the battles against the Fire Nation. He was actively looking for the third addition to the trio of leaders, a partner._

_I look back onto now and think that it was kismet. So many things just fell into place for me. I was already giving him council on a variety of things two weeks into our stay, and we were simply inseparable. He was my best friend and I was his. Thus, when I realized the state I was in, he was the first person I told._

_If I had known then that I was pregnant, would I have left the North? It's uncertain. I hate that I took away Pakku's opportunity to know his future child, but this life was already so much better, so much fuller for me, that it's hard to regret too much. It's something that would keep me up at night, as I wondered, what sort of father you'd be, Pakku. I know in my heart you'd be a good one, but maybe it only brings you pain to hear such things. I never wanted this to happen. I had thought I had watched my moon cycles better, so for this not to happen. Especially because if the North had knowledge about what Pakku and I had done prior to our marriage, they would have been horrified and we could have been punished. But alas, to be young and in love and have far too many emotions and hormones...well, I won't horrify my grandchildren any more than that._

_It was the day that I told Kesuk my secret he told me his...he did not favor women, but men. This in the South, in itself, was not frowned upon. It was that he was expected to further the line and find a third council member, as his brother was merely 10 and years away from even thinking about his future like that. It was then a plan was hatched, one mutually beneficial. We would marry, I would help as the third council member, and this child - boy or girl - would give the South the heir they so desperately needed after losing so many members and so much hope in maintaining their independence._

_Most of the members of the tribe were young. There were only a few elders around, and they agreed that this solved more problems than it made. It was easy enough to lie from that moment on that I had arrived after the Winter Solstice the year prior, repeat it and repeat it and repeat it until that's what the tribe itself believed. It helped that your father was born wailing, and strong, on the Winter Solstice six months later. A true leader, they said._

_By the time that your father was sixteen and starting to like Kya, everyone believed without question I had arrived about four months earlier than I actually had. No one questioned that your father was not Kesuk's. Of course, there were whispers as to why we never had another, or that he seemed to linger too long sometimes on a particularly hearty warrior, but it didn't really matter, not with a strong heir to bring them into the future._

_I loved Kesuk, not even as a brother, but as something hard to describe. I love Pakku in a romantic way, but my love with Kesuk was none less real because it was built on friendship. I miss him constantly. We were well matched. Had I been a man or he liked woman, we would have been perfect together. The day he died still stands out in my mind as one of the darkest days of my entire life._

_And oh, did he love your father, children. Hakoda was the light of his life. I have no doubt had he lived to see the birth of the two of you, he would have cared just the same. I know he's watching over both of you. Even if he was not biologically your grandfather, he is still your family and will always be there for you._

_I never intended to tell anyone. Or, at least, not now._

_In all, it's out to the people that matter now. I sat down with your father yesterday, for he deserves the truth too. He's hurt, but I know he will come through it._

_There are a few positives, or so I hope, to this. One, that I do not have to hold such a lie in my heart anymore. And, two, that you two may get to know your true grandfather. He may seem grouchy, but deep down I know he's a man that has much love to give. And Pakku, I pray you do not hate me too much._

_Forever yours,_

_Kanna_.

Katara finished reading. She licked her lips, turned, looking hesitantly at Pakku. She'd known, somewhere, but hearing it out loud was just…

"Grandpa!" Sokka said, breaking the tension. "Or would you prefer Grandfather? Or maybe Grandpappy? GrandPakky-"

"I'd prefer Pakku," Pakku broke in cooly. "And you will not refer to me as your grandfather again."

"Ouch, man." Sokka looked a little crestfallen.

"You childish boy," Pakku snapped. Katara raised an eyebrow, re-rolling up the letter. She knew somewhere, deep down, Pakku was showing love. "You are referred to as a Prince and Princess due to your lineage. Have you no forethought to what would happen if they found out you are not from the chieftain's line?"

"But, GranGran married Chief Kesuk." Sokka scratched his head. "So, I mean, technically…"

"The Fire Nation cares little about technicalities. It's blood itself that matters. Your father's claim to the nation could even be argued. If there is any weakness…" Pakku pressed a finger to his temple. "It would have been better for this secret to stay buried. Kanna had the right idea. You understand?"

"Yes," Katara said, "We do."

There was a flash of pride on Pakku's face, so fleeting Katara thought she might have imagined it. Sokka, however, was not done and wanted to argue.

"So, what? We just go on like we never heard any of that?" Sokka asked, slouching low, clearly hurting a little bit.

"For now, yes. My interactions from here on out with you will be strictly professional, so I will take this moment to say that, you are - despite it all - intelligent young children who I am not completely horrified to be related to," Pakku said. Katara knew this meant that he loved them already. Sokka seemed to realize this because he looked almost angry.

"Until when?"

"Until…" Pakku paused. "Until things are better."

XXxxXX

"He hasn't said a thing since he returned."

Aang could hear Ty Lee talking to Zuko in a hushed whisper, just outside his door to his room. Ty Lee shouldn't even truly be in here, but she had very adamantly refused to leave his side since last night.

"Do you know what happened?" she finished. "His aura is black. Like-"

Whatever comparison she was about to make she cut herself off from saying, ending with a small cough.

_You did your best._

_No,_  Aang though back angrily to Suluk,  _I refuse to accept that! I could have saved him._

_Aang, dear, your friends are worried._

The soft voice was the one of Udaya, one of the kindest Avatars, whose voice often was spoken over by other, more aggressive Avatars. In fact, it seemed only Suluk and Udaya were comforting him now, after Roku's and Katsata's stern 'pull yourself together's seemed to do nothing but cause Aang to recede further within himself.

"Only that it was not good," Zuko replied to Ty Lee. "Which I hope means that they did not succeed. I'll try to find more out. Perhaps Uncle Iroh will tell me. I'll be back later. In the meantime…" Aang could hear Zuko breathing behind the door. He sounded tired. "In the meantime, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Stupid?" Ty Lee echoed. Aang could imagine her eyes widening in confusion. They were probably a warm hazel-brown right now. Ty Lee's eyes were so expressive, taking on the color of whatever shade was around her. Whenever they were around Aang, they were a soft gray color, just like his.

"You'll know it if you see it," Zuko huffed.

Ty Lee hesitated outside the door. Aang could just see her now, bottom lip between her teeth, fingers playing with each other as she decided what to do, and maybe she'd trail her left hand through her long braid, tugging on it when she reached the bottom of the twist.

Finally, she seemed to decide, because she entered through the secondary door, breathing deeply.

"What is Zuko afraid you'll do?" she questioned, unable to keep her curiosity settled.

Aang, who found it difficult to not answer Ty Lee, turned toward her with a blank look on his face.

"Go into the Avatar State. Kill Zhao. Recede so far into my mind that the other Avatars will have to take over."

Ty Lee's fingers clasped around his wrist. Her skin was so warm, so soft.

"You're not actually thinking of those things, are you?" Her eyebrows knit looking at him.

"They've crossed my mind," Aang replied dully.

"Aang, please, tell me what happened," she tried again.

He gave her a sad, quiet smile and shook his head. He couldn't speak of it. He wouldn't.

Ty Lee didn't pressure him, which was absolutely something Zuko would have done. He was pleased about this, and she let him just drag his knees to his chest, considering all the ways he'd already failed the world.

When Zuko returned later that night, he wasn't alone. At first, Aang just thought it was a servant pushing food into the room, food that admittedly smelled divine, from the second shuffle of feet. Then, Zuko asked them to leave, and the movement of feet multiplied.

Aang lifted his head to see the whole group staring back at him.

"Why are they all here?"

"He speaks," Zuko said dryly, shoving the cart on wheels toward him. "Eat," he commanded sharply. There was an undertone of care and of worry.

Aang rubbed his hair, scowling. The aroma of the rice and vegetable dishes were too tempting, and he angrily grabbed a bowl, trying not to make an expression of pleasure as he took his first bite.

"Why are they here?" he repeated again, mouth full of food.

Sokka sat next to him, reaching over his arms to take a dumpling and pop it into his mouth. "Because. We're all in this now, bud."

"I got the story from my father, of all people," Zuko explained, motioning for everyone to sit. Sokka scooted over to make room for Shoji and Aiga to sit with him on the chaise lounge. Ty Lee balanced on the arm, closet to Aang. Toph leaned against the wall. Zuko sat on an oversized chair. Katara, seeing no other places to sit, blushed momentarily before settling herself on Zuko's lap.

Zuko's whole face went red and Sokka made a string of noises in the back of his throat of displeasure, waving his hands.

"Do you want to sit on Zuko's lap, Sokka?" Katara shot back, crossing her arms, any trace of embarrassment she might have momentarily felt overridden by her desire to set her brother straight. Aang raised an eyebrow at the Water Tribe warrior, who just continued to gesture helplessly.

"Can't you sit on the floor?" he whined.

"Okay, okay," Zuko said, shaking his head, but his palm tightened around Katara's waist. "Can we get back to actually important things?"

Aang shot Zuko a small smirk. He knew his quasi-brother well enough to see that he clearly wanted Katara to remain there. Luckily, his distraction wasn't without merit.

"Fine," Sokka huffed.

"What did Big Bad Fire Dad have to say about Aang's torpedoed mission?" Toph threw out, head slightly turned in curiosity.

"Apparently," Zuko said, staring straight at Aang, "They found one single airbender hidden in town with a family. The family has been…" He made a face of displeasure, choosing his words carefully. "Dealt with."

 _The family helping him! How could I forget!_  Aang's eyes widened as he felt his despair start to spiral again.  _They were killed. I know it. Zuko just doesn't want to say it in front of me. I should have thought of that! I should have realized that-_

Ty Lee brushed her fingers over his shoulder. Not enough for it to be a straight-up touch, like the way that Zuko's fingers were on Katara's side, but a comforting motion. He breathed out hard.

 _You'll just have to be aware of that, for next time. No one expects you to know it all_ , Udaya murmured in his mind. That was true. There would be a next time. Aang was sure of that.

"Damn," Toph said, raising a single eyebrow.

"The airbender, though Zhao told my father he was very careful to keep him alive, somehow still died during interrogation, before anything useful could be found out," Zuko said. He wasn't quite grinning, because a man's death was never worth a smile, but he did look almost pleased.

"Aang?" Ty Lee asked.

"I had to," Aang said firmly. "He asked me to...he asked me to kill him, so he wouldn't talk."

"Aren't airbenders all love, peace, zen, and no violence or whatever?" Toph frowned.

"Toph!" Shoji choked.

"Usually," Zuko answered smoothly. "But Aang clearly made a difficult choice. It was, I believe, the right one." Hearing Zuko on his side made things a bit better. Just a bit.

"How did your dad just offer all this up?" Sokka leaned forward with suspicion.

"Well, I might have overheard the fallout between my father and Zhao." Zuko shrugged. "Since it was clear I wasn't getting it anywhere else. Azula...erm, she was the one who told me that they were fighting."

Aang snapped his head up. He'd never liked Azula.

"Why would she care?" Aang asked carefully.

"Azula is always looking for a good fight, she likes drama." Ty Lee laughed uneasily.

"Yes, obviously, she's psychotic," Sokka snorted. "Why'd she tell you?"

Zuko gave a helpless shrug. Sokka began to theorize with Zuko, but Aang more or less tuned it out. All he thought about was Roddon's face, and the relief he expressed when Aang agreed to help him. But, if Aang had been doing his job, he would have never been in this situation.

"I should have found him first," Aang said firmly, speaking over his friends.

Everyone quieted.

"What?"

"Roddon, that's his name. I should've...I should have found him, and the other airbenders, before. I mean, Zuko managed to get Dhakiya to safety, so clearly there are options and...I just...I feel sick imagining having to make this choice again when I need to be getting ahead of it!"

"Well, it's easier said than done," Toph said, in one of the rare moments she was completely serious. "You couldn't have guessed where Roddon was gunna turn up, or where any airbender would turn up, to be honest! Seems sorta like a blind girl throwing darts at the wall and seeing where they hit."

"Is that true though?" Katara rubbed her chin. "I mean, Pakku told me that all bending his hereditary. You had to have the gene somewhere. Maybe it's not...awake," she struggled for a way to describe it, "But it's still there, like in my father."

"You know, that's not totally ridiculous," Zuko said, eyes brightening.

"Erm, thanks?" Katara said.

"No, gah, that came out wrong. What I'm saying is at first Dhakiya thought it was just a gift from the Gods that gave her her bending, that it was all random. However, her father researched his family history, and while we can't confirm it, because it's not like airbenders were painting themselves bright blue and announcing their location to the world, but the location of his mother's side of the family is fairly close to where Airbenders might have come from, if they were just off from visiting a Temple."

"So, it's not random, who had these powers 'woken up'." Sokka did air-quotations. "It's trackable."

"Not in the sense that our records are precise, but it's not nothing to go off of," Zuko said. The group fell quite for a second.

Suddenly, Aiga took a sharp intake of breath that whistled through her teeth, standing up. "The reports!"

"What reports?" Katara asked, blinking at her handmaid.

"The reports! The census reports! Oh! Remember when we were in the hidden room, during the attack? I was looking at census reports about big groups that suddenly migrated to the areas nearest to Air Temples? I'd bet you anything that those were Airbender Refugees going under the radar. They probably took on Fire Nation last names, to stay undetected, but they are there!"

Aang was on his feet at once, pacing.

"You really think we can find them?"

"We can trace lineages," Zuko said, and Aang could see his mind racing too fast for words. "And it will give us ideas of descendants about who possibly could have inherited airbending. I mean, we could start to cross reference it, see if any of those descendants in the family line have gone missing, run away recently. And, you could hit up cities where people are before Zhao gets wind of it. I mean, you're the Avatar, people will trust you. Even if they don't know, likely Air Temple communities still stick in touch, culture, so they might be aware of who-"

"Woah, Sparky, take a breath there," Toph said, eyes wide. Aang realized he hadn't actually paused or inhaled the entire time he was talking.

"I just...we can really make a difference," Zuko said, meeting Aang's eyes. He looked more excited about politics than Aang had seen him in years...no, in forever.

"How did you get Dhakiya to the safe house?" Shoji asked.

"A lot of friendly helping hands. Food merchants, friendly houses, boats...people that didn't mind smuggling her away, keeping her hidden. Her dad went with her. Sometimes, she'd be stuck at a place for days, waiting for a contact, but they always came through," Zuko explained.

"A route of safe passage," Katara echoed, eyes wide. "Do you think they'd be willing to do it again?"

"Some, because they're good people. Some, if we pay them right," Zuko responded. He nudged Katara for her to get up. "But, first, we need some documents. Toph and Aiga come with me; you'll need to open the secret room again, Toph, and Aiga knows what we're looking for," he said, motioning. "Shoji. Go into my room with Aang. You two have the most reason to be in there. The very bottom left drawer of my desk is a fake-out. Lift up the fake bottom and you'll find my scrolls about how I got Dhakiya out. Bring them back in here and we'll start going over them to figure out who we can trust, who we can pay enough to trust, and who we might need to replace. We'll come back with the census reports."

"This is going to be a whole lot of paperwork we have to wade through, isn't it?" Sokka complained.

"Unfortunately." Zuko didn't sound sympathetic though. "And, since you are the Water Tribe Representative, you probably have the most reason to be in the Royal Libraries and Records Center, which means you'll be doing a lot of it."

"Oh, wonderful."

"Sokka, we're saving lives!" Katara hit his arm.

"I get that, I get that." Sokka did look like he didn't mean it. "It's just...well, things are sort of serious now. I don't want to screw up."

Aang found it in himself to smile.

"Hey, at least you'll know that that first mission I did was rock bottom. Nothing we do from here on out could be any worse, bud," Aang said, and Ty Lee grinned broadly at him, clearly pleased he was able to put aside his worries, temporarily.

The groups split up. Aang easily found Zuko's hidden drawer, perhaps too easily. He made a mental note to make a better hiding place for that. Aang had been hiding for years. He knew a thing or two about secrets.

He spread the maps and notes all over the floor of his room, and immediately the group started pouring over them. Zuko was meticulous, at least, years of careful Fire Nation schooling meaning his notes were all flawless and ink-splotch free, as well as thorough. It was all too easy to start organizing his thoughts, as though he was in the room with them.

Katara and Sokka began listing off people who had helped, as well as discussing ways to contact them again, and then ways to keep them safe. Or, was that even a possibility? Anyone who leant them a hand was putting themselves in grave danger, and short of getting the people themselves out of the system forever, they were risking everything.

Shoji was studying the map with a concentration Aang didn't dare break. He saw his finger flit across the surface, and when Aang gathered the courage to ask, Shoji explained he was mentally trying to map different paths the airbenders could take. It would make them sitting turtle-ducks if everyone took the same route every single time.

By the time Zuko, Aiga, and Toph returned, Aang made sure to pull Zuko aside to ask how many people the safe house that Dhakiya was in could take. Would they have to find another one? How were they being fed? Somehow, Aang had fallen into a leadership position with this whole thing, albeit unexpectedly. Zuko didn't seem like he was ready to take that away from him, in fact, he looked relieved.

This was Aang's mission after all, to save these people. The rest of the group looked to him, the Avatar, for guidance.

For the first time since Aang found out he was the Avatar, he had the feeling like he sort of knew what he was doing and where he was going to go from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a few small notes!
> 
> If you all liked the meal Zutara scene, thank my beta hepchaton, who encouraged me to put a fluffy Zutara scene in ;)
> 
> And I do apologize that Gran's letter is a lot of exposition but I...well, I got a little carried away XD
> 
> Oh! So in the usual two weeks time, I will be in the Caribbean, so without wi-fi and sipping pina coladas or something. So, either expect the story very early (like next Friday, preferably) or late, if it's just too busy and my beta doesn't have time to edit or I drop the ball on writing it.
> 
> Anywho, remember to review!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys! I'm sorry for such the long wait...Explanation in bottom A/N.

As Zuko paused to mark some of the parchment against the wall of the palace, Lu Ten slapped the brush from his fingers.

"You got ink everywhere," Zuko said, jumping back, watching as the brush skidded across the ground.

"I'm," Lu Ten said, reaching down and picking the brush up very purposefully, "Confiscating this from you."

"But I just-"

"The motion draft is  _fine_ , cousin," Lu Ten said, holding the brush high above his head as Zuko tried to reach for it. "Better than fine. As close to perfect as it can be. Dad wouldn't let you ask Uncle Ozai with anything less.

Zuko pulled a frown. It was only in moments like this that it was obvious how much taller Lu Ten was than him. Lu Ten was stringy and built like a tree. Zuko wasn't short, but when Lu Ten had the brush balancing on his fingertips, Zuko was still a foot away from grasping it.

"As close to perfect, exactly," Zuko argued. "Which means there's room for error." Nervously, his fingers picked at the edges of the parchment.

"Well, as dad would say-"

"Don't," Zuko groaned. The last thing he needed was a vague life affirmation.

"Nothing in life is perfect."

Zuko locked his jaw. It had been less philosophical than he was expecting, but it didn't irritate him any less.

"Look, just one more note, so I don't forget," Zuko begged, jumping to grab the brush. Lu Ten just stood on his tip-toes.

"No! Because after that, it will be another, and another, and another-"

"I'm the Heir Apparent!" Zuko didn't like pulling title often, but in times like this, he felt it was necessary. Lu Ten just laughed.

"No, you're little Cousin Zuzy to me, face smeared with jam and trying to eat dandelions," Lu Ten teased, rolling his eyes.

"Just-give-that-to-" Zuko began, hopping, waving his hands, and trying to get Lu Ten to yield. Lu Ten waved the paper around, and at this point, Zuko wasn't sure if he was doing it for the stated purpose, or just to mess with him a bit. It didn't matter. The door flew open, unnoticed to both, until Ozai's dark voice crept over their skin.

"I must be dreaming, for I can't possibly be seeing two members of the Royal Family hopping about like a pair of brainless Hog Monkeys, or worse, plebeian children."

Immediately, all joking ceased. Lu Ten dropped into a bow on the floor, and Zuko knelt, swallowing hard.

"Dad," he murmured, face blushing bright scarlet.

"Uncle Ozai," Lu Ten said respectfully, his voice quivering, just a bit. When Ozai only frowned at him, Lu Ten inhaled, saying even quieter, "My Grace."

Seemingly pleased with making his nephew grovel, he turned his attention to Zuko.

"If anyone had seen the pair of you," he began to bite out, his displeasure abundantly clear, "You, of all people, my son-"

"It was me, Uncle," Lu Ten said, standing. "I was the one that caused him to act in such an unrefined way. My fault."

Lu Ten, when push came to shove, would always have Zuko's back. He'd take the blame, without fail, even if was Zuko's blame to shoulder. He looked after Zuko like that, and the thought that Lu Ten would stand against Ozai for him every time, let the consequences pile on himself, caused Zuko's heart to hurt.

"You're both grown men, and I should  _hope_  that Zuko can tell right from wrong himself, Lu Ten," Ozai said swiftly, his icy-cold gaze still fixed on Zuko.

"Of course, sir," Lu Ten said, and Zuko could see him hold back a long sigh. It was exhausting to navigate what Ozai expected you to say. But, Zuko thought, part of his father's whole...thing might have been to never be pleased with anything ever.

"Father, as Iroh may have told you, I have a proposal for you," Zuko said, rapidly rolling the sheet up, "If you'll hear it?"

"We should have time at the end of the meeting," Ozai said, and Zuko may have imagined it, but his tone picked up a little. "Come, you're making all of us wait."

'All of us' was a little extreme, Zuko thought, since this was a Royal Family meeting, which only meant that his mother, his uncle, his father, his sister, and Aang were sitting inside. Ozai made it seem as though Zuko and Lu Ten had kept hundreds of eager Lords and Ladies waiting.

Zuko bit back a snarky reply, wiping a smudge of ink on the back of his hand as he followed his father inside. Once both men were sitting, Ozai firmly shut and locked the door, usual per meetings.

"Zuko, it's impolite to keep us waiting," Azula snipped.

"I'm pretty sure that the day runs on the Fire Lord's schedule. You're all just early," Lu Ten said with a grin. Aang laughed. Thank Spirits, he needed to laugh more.

"While that may be," Azula didn't miss a beat, "He's not the Fire Lord."

"Yet," Zuko growled out, for it didn't seem like that fact had gone without saying, but more that Azula had purposely left the thought out. "Not the Fire Lord yet."

"Children," Ozai said once, and Zuko sat up straight. "If we may?"

The first part of the meeting, as it had been of late, was unbearably boring. The family talked about money, costs, and account issues. Iroh and Ozai argued about what things were worth re-gilding in gold, and what things could perhaps just be painted a shiny gold color. Iroh was petitioning quite heavily for jade handles on the new doors, to which Ozai was less than enthusiastic, and was partial to a warmer-colored stone. The meeting, in all, discussed things Zuko really couldn't care less about, and he was pleased to see even his mother trying to hide a yawn behind her hand.

After the reparations and costs of reparations, the talk slid into the report that the highest butlers and handmaids had drawn up. How many Lords and Ladies were staying with them, who was set to leave and arrive, who was the most important out of the list, what the chefs were planning on making for meals in the next week, and so on. Details that Zuko realized were the very structure of the palace, and therefore important, but details nonetheless that Zuko found drier than the deserts in Earth Kingdom. Things that, like his father, he'd assign to others to deal with on a day to day basis, and sign off on the sum of the ideas at meetings like this.

Finally, the review drew to a close.

"Zuko, apparently, has written up a proposal for us to hear," Ozai said, as though Zuko was about to give a 'show-and-tell' presentation.

"Oh, this ought to be good," Azula said with an exaggerated eye roll.

Zuko's eyes flickered nervously to Iroh. He gave his nephew a warm smile, and that gave Zuko the courage to stand.

He'd been sitting on this idea for a while now.

No, that wasn't quite right. He'd been sitting on this frantic worry for a while now, ever since the palace attack, that the idea that his beloved home was not as safe as he thought it once was. But, it hadn't been until two days ago, on the boat with Katara and Sokka, and yesterday, with Aang, that all the pieces he needed to do something had fallen into place.

He'd left Aang, Aiga, and Shoji to their own devices last night, all but running to his uncle's room.

Once, as a very young child, he'd been under the illusion that there was no safer location anywhere in the world than the capitol. It seemed laughable to think otherwise.

And, if he was being honest, this belief held within him up until the attack on the palace. He was becoming more aware of the different cracks in the system as more responsibility was given to him, but still, he'd never imagine the death and destruction that his home could have ever weathered.

As much as his father may try to pretend like they had it handled, they didn't. Anyone that was so lucky to look at the reports would see that. It was all one big farce.

Most of Zuko's family could handle themselves. Lu Ten, Iroh, Aang, Azula, Ozai...they were all gifted benders and better fighters. It was only his mother that he worried for, but he knew his Uncle would never let harm come to her.

His key concern was the ladies here.

Even if some of them were gifted in battle, many were not. It was wildly irresponsible to keep the ladies huddled here, like turtle-ducks in a barrel, just  _waiting_  for another attack, which could happen when they were less secluded, or it was daytime, or they were the focus of the attack.

Keeping them all in one big group, in a palace that had already proven that it was not impenetrable, seemed like they were just asking for the Equalists to really make a statement by slaughtering the entire year's Choice competitors.

And, after everything, this had been a worry that he hadn't seen a logical end to, or one he liked, at least.

The most logical solution was to pick a lady, marry her, and send the rest away.

Zuko didn't want to do this, since Katara wasn't agreeing to marry.

Plus, it seemed rude to make a hasty choice - of the future Fire Lady - out of fear, and he was gripped with the terror that he'd pick wrong. Someone who wouldn't be a good mother of the people, someone he'd grow to hate, someone he didn't know enough about.

But then...then on the boat, Katara had stated that most of the ladies had only ever been to the Capital, apart from their own cities. He recalled it was common for the Prince to take the ladies on a trip to one location outside of the Palace.

At the time, it had just been...a flutter in the back of his mind. Transporting the group as one large sum to another place was as foolish as keeping them here. Plus, staying there for a long time as was common would create the same issues as the Palace.

It wasn't until he'd been with Aang, pouring over maps, and trying to discuss how to make this trail for the Airbenders, to get them from wherever they were to the Swamp or other strongholds.

That's what had sparked it, this idea. An idea that would kill two birds with one stone.

He'd gone to Uncle at once.

There were, of course, things he couldn't say to his father about the plan:  _Father, I want to do this to make sure the Ladies stay safe because I don't trust you, nor your men._  Even beyond that, there was the undercut that he couldn't say directly to his Uncle;  _While on location, I want to try to build up this underground passageway, so I can knowingly aid Airbenders and procure safe passage for them_.

Still, his uncle seemed to know, and together, they spent the entire night working to perfect this proposal. There was no time to waste.

"Most Honorable Fire Lord," he said, bowing to his father, per custom. "I wish to begin a tradition that is built upon a common Choice occurrence, but make it my own. As you know - both you and Uncle - it is expected that the Ladies visit with the Prince to a location to get a wider appreciation for the land, and stay there for a moon or two. I propose something different, but I feel, more applicable."

He paused, trying to gauge his father's face. His father's only reaction was a raised eyebrow, but this in itself was unexpected enough to give Zuko the courage to continue to speak.

"In a time of such unrest in all of our territories, it is imperative for the Royal Family to have a strong presence across the land to set the people right. To let them know that despite the minor inconvenience of the attack, we will not allow anyone to walk over us. I know you had been in discussion over who to send; yourself? Lu Ten? I would like to offer myself, along with Kuzon when his travels permit. Kuzon is a good diplomatic, you can't deny that. As I went out with Uncle so many years ago, I would like to do so again. But, since I realize I do have a competition to honor, I want to allow the ladies to come with me."

"What? Pick up the whole competition and just send them to spirit's knows where?" Azula snorted.

"No, not all of them," Zuko said, shaking his head. "Small groups. Each lady would submit applications to which locations they wish to travel with me to. There is no limit to how many they can choose. There's no limit how many I would take. I anticipate we'd maybe take three or four per location. We would make it clear that we'd expect work from them, nothing past what we'd ask mother herself to do. It will be good practice for the future Fire Lady, as well give me a chance to observe them in this role. We would pick who we feel would be the best fit, or who has the best reason, for each location, and we'd be accompanied by a convoy of guards wherever we went. Also, having Kuzon there would ensure that, well, no honor codes are broken."

It would be, he reasoned, easier to protect two or three ladies at any given time than nearly twenty.

"It would send a message to any location we visited, one that will be seen two different ways; for those that are thinking of a coup, to show that we will not allow that. For those that feel neglected, it will be an honor for the Crown Prince and a possible future Fire Lady to visit and help in small ways."

 _And_ , he thought,  _with Aang there, we can be slyly looking for merchants, people with transportation, those willing to help, as well as looking for Airbenders. It's perfect!_

Silence.

Zuko coughed, looking over his notes, making sure he got everything.

"It's good of Zuko to take the initiative, brother." Uncle Iroh was the first to speak.

"Or is he just reading your fine writing?" Ozai accused.

"While it is true that I helped him refine it, the ideas, the language, the intricacies are all Zuko," Iroh said, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "You should not think so low of your own son."

It was true...mostly. Iroh had this annoying habit of asking very leading questions and never giving a straight answer about much of anything. Of course, it led Zuko to coming to the realizations that were necessary himself, and thusly writing them, but the night may have gone a lot faster if Uncle had just  _told_  him what he was thinking. Still, it made him overly prepared for this morning.

"I think he should go," Azula said after a moment. "The girls are getting so tired, being kept in here like cat-mice in cages."

"I didn't know you cared, Azula," Aang said with an even face.

"About a few, sure," Azula shrugged. "But father, you must admit, it is not nearly the worst plan he's ever had."

Zuko tried not to send an incredulous look Azula's way. Why was she helping him?

"And what if there is another attack here?" Ozai asked.

Zuko tried to look as terrifying as Ozai did. "Do you expect there to be another one, father?"

"Oh, Ozai, it would also be different for the girls," Ursa urged. "It would be good for them to see territories beyond what they're used to. You recall that on my first year as Fire Lady, I didn't know the difference between Northern Earth Kingdom customs and the Southern, and a trip like this would save the capitol and the Royal Family embarrassment."

Zuko could have sworn his father nearly blushed. He tucked this away to ask Iroh later. He'd never heard of this, but from the frown on his father's face, apparently it had been a big faux pas on his mother's part.

"I have compiled a list of locations that I feel most need our attention, father," Zuko continued. He wasn't going to let his father make a fool out him at any point in this, he'd told himself. He had mountains of research and late-night markings to prove how much he'd thought about this. Nearly seven straight hours of making sure this was unflappable. "As well as a hesitant plan of when we would go to them."

He flourished a secondary, smaller, parchment from in front of the one he was reading off of, handing it to his dad.

Ozai accepted it. His face was still thoughtful, which Zuko thought maybe he'd won him over.

"Do you have the full proposal too?"

"Yes, of course, here," Zuko tried not to stumble over himself to give it to him.

"I will read this over, although I cannot find much fault in it currently," Ozai said, which to Zuko meant that he was pleased. A weird feeling filled his chest. He should have been feeling relieved and happy; this was high praise from Ozai. Instead, the compliment felt twisted, dark, and unsatisfying.

Zuko shoved it down.

"If there is nothing else to discuss," Iroh began slowly, "I would very much like to go to lunch. This meeting has been long and dragging."

"Quite." Ozai waved a dismissive hand. "Zuko, I will read through this tonight and have a reply back to you soon."

"Oh, yes, thank you." Zuko was still feeling caught off-guard. For all his planning, for his father to have been...pleased or receptive to this was the one thing he wasn't expecting. He was expecting that he'd have to fight with Ozai for any sort of allowance on this front. To have near respect given to him was, frankly, the most startling thing he could imagine.

Azula was hanging behind. He didn't imagine she helped him out of the goodness of her own heart.

Aang must have seen his expression, for he came up close to Zuko.

"You know, with you out of the palace so often, it would be easier for her to drum up support to have you cast aside," Aang said, causing Zuko's stomach to clench.

"Damn," he hissed. "I wonder if I could convince Father to have her come with me on some of the longer missions, ones where I may be gone for a week at a time."

Aang gave a tired-looking shrug. "Worth asking. Maybe Uncle Iroh can help convince him again. Your dad's been tough on Azula lately, maybe he'd be just as glad to get her out of the palace."

"Yes, but that means we'd have to deal with her," Zuko groaned, wincing as they exited the meeting room to walk to the lunch location.

"Sure, but it's easier to keep an eye on one person in a group of like six than in a palace of thousands," Aang said wisely.

Zuko rubbed his chin, biting the inside of his cheek. "I hate how you're right," he muttered. "I will bring it up with Iroh if my father approves this. Keeping Azula here in the palace, practically alone, is no good either."

He nodded to Shoji as they passed him standing, and Shoji peeled off the wall to walk with them.

"Were you up late last night? Did you...find what you were looking for?"

"We began to, yes," Aang confirmed. "But there are no guarantees to any of our traces. Katara, she…"

Aang looked around, before furtively pulling the pair into a small closet.

"Cozy," Shoji said dryly, which was an understatement, considering the closet was maybe fit for some buckets and soap. Three grown men squished in the closet basically meant they were chest to chest. If anyone opened the door, it would be impossible for courtly gossip  _not_  to come of it. Oh, the whispers would be wild. Zuko, in a tryst with not only a distant cousin, but a guard too? Or, maybe just the guard. Maybe Shoji was with both of them?

It didn't matter, but Zuko still thought about the impossible scenario anyhow.

"Katara asked me a bit ago if I could open Yue's waterbending abilities, since it stands to reason that she has them, but they are blocked somehow. At the time, I thought it too risky, since I fear I'd have to go into my Avatar State. I still think it's risky, and I'm not planning to do that, but I don't want to go into the state for nothing, if I can't do it anyway, or if Katara is wrong and there are no abilities to be had."

"What are you thinking, then?"

"Well, there has to be a way for me to feel her powers, to know if they even exist. Katara's been showing me water-healing. I may be able to tap into it without going into the Avatar State, just to  _see_. And I feel like I have to, because then, I could perfect it to know if someone's an airbender just by touching them, if I get good enough at reading the powers, if that's a thing that happens. It would make it easier to find them. Or, to know who might be next up for a...metamorphosis…" Aang's forehead was deeply creased.

"Are we telling Princess Yue about this?" Zuko asked.

Aang's wince said it all.

"Oh, great. So you're just going to touch her - not weird at all - or sneak into her room while she's asleep, even better. She wakes up to you above her and-"

"Shush!" Shoji slapped a hand over Zuko's lips. "You're getting loud!"

"Toph knows an herb that causes heavy drowsiness. If we put it in her tea at dinner, she'll fall asleep for the whole night, unable to wake even if there was a hurricane coming through," Aang said hurriedly. "Toph's room is right next door. I'm going to...hide in her room until night falls, and then just go right next door. Yue is trusting enough that she never locks her door, so." Aang seemed nervous. Rightly so. "And I'll just see. That's all I'll be doing."

"And if she does? WIll you switch it?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. Not tonight, for sure. Maybe later. But maybe she has the choice, or she should." Aang picked at his nails. "I just thought I should tell you."

"Damn right," Zuko said. "Spirits...okay, yes, I get why. Fine. Just be smart about it."

He carefully unlocked the door, peeking out. No one was around. Three teenagers stumbled from a very small closet.

Aang wiped the wrinkles from his shirt, Shoji fixed his helmet, and Zuko just ran his fingers through his hair.

"If Toph is wrong and this goes south, even I don't think I could save you, if Yue wakes up to 'Kuzon' creepily standing over her," Zuko warned him a low hiss.

"I get that," Aang snapped back. He inhaled. "I know," he said quieter, "It's not a perfect plan-"

"An awful one, actually."

"But it's what we got."

Zuko winced, thinking of all the half-baked ideas he'd taken on in just the last half a year or so. "Yeah. There are a lot of those going around."

XXxxXX

Sometime in the middle of dinner-time, when a third of the girls were with the Royal Family and the rest were most likely to be seeking their own food elsewhere, Toph let Aang, Shoji, and Sokka into her room. At first, Aang had just expected it to be himself, however Sokka and Shoji were adamant about being 'in' on this.

It seemed like the only one who wouldn't be participating was Zuko, but he couldn't very well vanish for most of the night, hiding out in a contestant's room. Zuko wasn't supposed to be in any of their rooms.

Aang was sure Zuko had been to Katara's room for multiple reasons on multiple nights, but that was neither here nor there, and too much for Aang to judge anyway.

As it was, the trio was banished to Toph's closet, where they leaned against the walls, trying not to disturb the dresses she never wore and waited for night. Sokka had the foresight to bring a small chip game, made out of painted slices of shell. He taught the boys a couple variations and they just waited, and waited, and waited.

It was cramped and uncomfortable, and soon Shoji and Sokka were deep into a strategy game, something Aang had never been good at. He was good at speaking of peace and finding the best in people. Strategy and subterfuge just frustrated him, as well as frustrated his lack of understanding of it. Why couldn't people just be… _g_ _ood?_

 _For as many places we find light, it cannot exist without dark too_ , Yangchen spoke quietly, and Aang batted the air as though dismissing the spirit of her.

He'd turned away temptation his whole life. Sure, he was the Avatar, but was he a good person because he was the Avatar, or was he the Avatar because he was a good person? People had the ability to do great things, he mused, if they let goodness guide their hand. And, not just goodness, but traits like honor, trust, love, restraint-

 _Restraint and temptation, huh?_  Kyoshi said, her tone almost teasing as an image of Ty Lee flooded his brain.

Aang ground his teeth, pressing his palms to his eye socket and blowing air through his nose hard in frustration. That was hardly fair of them. He was, despite his mental wisdom, in the body of a sixteen-year-old boy.

"You okay?" Sokka looked up.

"Fine," Aang snapped, probably doing a poor job of convincing them, dragging his hand to his chin but keeping his eyes screwed shut.

"Uhm," Shoji snorted.

Aang flopped backwards, the skirts of the dresses softening his fall, groaning. "You remember when your parents gave you the talk?" Aang asked.

Shoji made a noise in the back of his throat. Sokka seemed to give a full body shiver.

"My dad  _showed_  me. Ew, not like that! He showed me seal-elk mating season. So much flub, so much moaning. It for sure made the idea of any sex at all very unappealing, let me tell you!" Sokka explained. "But don't monks…"

"I knew the vague details, but it was Zuko. It wasn't comfortable." Aang rolled on his side to face his companions. "But point being, even with meditation, I'm a guy and these Avatars…"

"Oh." Shoji was looking at Aang with horror.

Sokka tugged on his wolf-tail.

"Well, maybe we can turn it into a positive. They must have mad skills, you'd think. Like thousands of years of practice. Maybe they can give you some pointers." Sokka shrugged.

"I do  _not_  want to know that stuff. It's like finding out about your parent's sex lives," Aang said firmly.

"But they're you?" Sokka pointed out. "I bet you five golds, Shoji, that Aang's like some sex god."

"Forget I said anything!" Aang said loudly, realizing that this was bound to go downhill with Sokka here.

"Do'ya think they'll give him the room when he finally gets a moment? Or will they just be giving him pointers in his-"

"Stop it, seriously! And no one up here answer," Aang said. Spirits. It was much easier when he was 12 and he  _liked_  girls but he didn't like the idea of doing anything past kissing with them.

"I-"

"You boneheads are so loud," Toph said, throwing open the closet door. "You all ready?"

"Are you sure it worked, Toph?" Aang hurried up, glad for a distraction. "I mean...that you put the right dosage in, because you're…"

"Aiga did it, ye of little faith," Toph said, offended. "She's in there now. Yue is out like a light. And I seriously mean O-U-T."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Shoji asked.

"Where's Ty Lee?" Aang was glad that Sokka asked, so he didn't have to.

"On the way out, Mai cornered her. Asked her for...well, girl talk is probably a stretch. Ty Lee couldn't very well say no," Toph said.

"Ugg. Good luck with that," Sokka winced. No one really liked Mai. Aang wasn't even sure Ty Lee, who was the nicest person around, actually did.

"What time is it?" Shoji asked. Toph's room was usually dark, obviously, as things like candles were just useless to her.

"Maybe two or three hours to moon high," Aang observed. "So, likely, not many will be awake."

"Are we going?" A new voice whispered from near the door. Katara. "Or are we just going to sit around and gossip about the time like old ladies?"

Right. This whole mission was better to be done quickly and efficiently.

Aiga was standing with Katara. She was slipping a small key back into her bun, hiding it effectively, in the case that the door had been locked.

"Oh, wow, it is open," Shoji murmured as Yue's door swung in. Katara and Aiga herded everyone inside, before closing the door. Aang threw a look across the hall to Ty Lee's room, wishing she was here too. Sokka took a chair and placed it under the handle, after manually locking it.

"Don't want to leave anything to chance," he hissed when Katara rolled her eyes at him.

"We sure she's asleep? Like, really asleep?" Aang asked nervously. Toph stomped over, waved her hand over her face a couple times.

"Yeah, I think she's out."

"You're blind," Shoji snorted.

"But I can hear her heartbeat. Totally calm, even. No changes. Asleep," Toph shot back.

"Okay," Aang whispered, motioning for them to stand down. "So, uhm." He fidgeted at Yue's bedside.

"Agni, you don't know what you're doing, do you?" Sokka whispered, dragging fingers down his face.

"Sorta! I mean, vaguely. I mean…" Aang winced. "It's a mixture, I figure, of water-healing and chi-bending," he said, looking to Katara. The spirits in his head were offering no help, as no one had ever had the need to find this out before, or even attempt it.

"Ty Lee had showed me something a while ago, thank Agni, since she's not here," Aang spoke again, recalling how she'd pressed two dainty fingers to the hollow of his neck, and how at the time - back when they were on the cusp of children to adults - he hadn't had a reaction. Now, even just thinking back of the memory made his blood warm.

"I can, well, feel her soul. Ty Lee called it my aura. In the neck hollow."

"There?" Katara asked. She took a tendril of water from the bedside water cup, placing it over the area that Aang was gesturing to. It began to glow. "Take over, Aang."

Aang stood beside her, coating his fingers with water and pressing into the warmth of the healing. He took two fingers, just as he'd watched Ty Lee doing, pressing lightly to her neck, just the lightest amount. At first, he felt stupid just sitting there, just pressing her neck. He almost pulled back, he almost called it quits, thinking that maybe this wasn't going to work and they had to just call it a day. Then, it's like Yue's soul- awake, even if her body was not- was pulling him through here. He could feel his physical body still above her, pressing down, but his spiritual self was dragged to where her soul resided.

It was like he was in the backseat of Yue's body, such as when he let another Avatar take over. He didn't have any access to her arms to move them, and he couldn't read her mind, but he was sitting in front of every other part of her. It was like he was in a great white expanse, and echoing around him he could hear her heart thumping. In front of him was a slightly glowing blue ball. He walked toward that, reaching out.

He felt many things. He could feel her blood under her skin, like how one would go about healing. He could feel her heart beating. He could feel her inhale, the exhale.

And, beyond that, he could feel something else. It was so faint, that at this point, he couldn't quite reach it.

He pressed a little harder with his physical fingers. Inside Yue's soul, his fingers brushed over the glowing ball.

Yes, it was power. It was hard to catch, for he didn't want to choke her, but he dismissed all his other thoughts and went into a quasi-meditative mode. The sensation became sharper, now. Not complexity clear and readable, but sharper.

Aang tasted fresh snow. He tasted summer rain, pattering on a tin roof. He tasted a babbling stream, chirping as it glided over mossy stones. He tasted the water in all things. He tasted coolness that lingered over his whole body.

What he felt, too, was a thread, tied to it. If he pulled hard enough, he wondered, maybe he could…

Like someone clapping their hands loudly over his head, he was shut out without warning.

Aang stumbled back.

"Well?" Katara asked nervously.

"I...I think..I need to…" he said, struggling to form words. His eyes snapped to Katara. He re-wetted his fingers, going to try to feel Katara's throat too. She, understandably confused, stumbled back a bit, knocking into a piece of furniture.

"Sorry, I just, I need to feel someone else's to-"

"Oh, yeah, I was just startled," Katara blinked.

"Let's move this party back to my room, eh?" Toph suggested. "We don't want noise in here. But bumping and groaning coming from a blind girl's room? Per the norm."

Sokka gave a strange cough, but Aang hardly thought about it. Aiga looked curiously at Sokka, a small grin widening across her face. Sokka shot her a dark look. He looked to Katara, and then shook his head. Katara didn't see the exchange.

The group hustled back into Toph's room. When there, Katara emptied a water skein into a bowl, holding it out to Aang.

He gratefully dipped his hand in.

When he did the same experiment to Katara, he had the same exact emotions overwhelm him. The same thread, though he dare not pull on it.

He pulled away, flicking one hand, watching the water fall onto the carpet.

"I'll need to try this to all of you," he murmured. The Avatars were rushing in his mind to make sense of the information, though no faster than Aang himself was.

"Aang, what's going on?" Shoji looked concerned.

"I just need to...let me try it on at least Toph and Aiga right off, and I'll explain," Aang said.

As soon as Aang pressed his fingers to Toph's neck, applying pressure, she giggled. "Kinky."

"Ack, Toph!"

"Sorry, sorry. I'll be good, Twinkle-Toes," Toph promised.

When he delved in, at Toph's core, he tasted upturned earth warmed by the sun. He tasted red clay, malleable in someone's palm. He tasted slick mud, underneath the foliage in a forest. He tasted cool stones, laying under the shade of a mountain cliff. He felt the string.

He spent less time at Toph, fearing another comment.

Aiga was waiting patiently.

When he delved into Aiga, he felt...nothing. Not a complete absence, not a desolate wasteland, but no strings and no tastes. Just her body, human, average.

Not average in the sense that she wasn't entirely instrumental to helping them, to helping him. For that, he was eternally grateful. He knew Aiga was not one to be underestimated. But when it came to powers, she was indeed average.

"Aang?" Katara prompted.

More used to the feeling, and the process, Aang slicked his fingers for Shoji.

"When I went into Yue's soul, I guess, I could feel waterbending," he explained.

Shoji tasted like burning embers. Like a warm fire. Like lava smoldering as it crept along. He wondered if he felt Zuko's soul, for instance, it would be more overpowering. Shoji was a good firebender, but he wasn't a great one. Katara and Toph's souls were strong. Toph was a master bender. Katara had the potential. He considered that for as much as Shoji may practice, perhaps his soul wasn't built to be more than a slightly above-average bender? "And I felt a...well, like a piece of string, tied to it." He stepped back, wiping his hands on his pants. "When I started tugging, I was more or less shoved out. I didn't have enough power."

"So you  _do_  have to go into the Avatar State to access her waterbending," Katara finished, frowning and nodding to herself.

"Well, yes. No, because…" Aang chewed on his lip. "I think it's already...been accessed."

There was silence.

What?" Katara finally sputtered, "But she told me-"

"I think it's new. It felt new. I can't describe it, other than 'new'. Your soul and hers felt the same, at least with bending, Katara. Yours felt like a familiar song, whereas her felt more unsure. I think she doesn't even know it's there. It probably happened during the attack," Aang rushed to clarify.

"And feelin' us all up?" Toph prompted.

"I wanted to make sure there was a difference between the elements. There is. With Aiga? I mean, nothing. Just...no bending anywhere."

"None of my family, at least in five or six generations, were benders," Aiga confirmed.

"What would you feel with Sokka, then? Because my parents weren't benders, but they gave birth to me."

"It would probably be faint, or just not there. Not at his soul," Aang said, "Because, well, he's not a bender."

Aang looked at Sokka, who shrugged, pulling down his shirt. "I like not being a bender. No magic for me, you know," Sokka said cheerfully.

Aang pressed in.

"Yeah," He said, about to withdraw, "Like Aiga. Noth-"

But it wasn't nothing. He could taste water too. At first, he thought maybe Katara was right, and it was just buried for the next generation, but then he realized he also felt a thread.

It was at this moment he realized everyone else's threads had been on his right. Sokka's was on his left. As he began to tug at Sokka's, the water became a clearer feeling, like he was tugging back a curtain and letting light shine in. The sense of the spirits started swimming through him, in Sokka.

He felt the tension and pulled himself out before he was shoved away, as in Yue.

"Oh." That was really all he could say.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka demanded frantically.

"You're a waterbender."

"What? No, I swear, I'm not." Sokka looked so taken off-guard that it sort of terrified Aang.

"That came out wrong. You could be. Bending is like a switch, I think. Tug it off or on. Yours is just...off. Katara's is on. It could be turned on."

"Holy shit," Katara whispered beneath her fingers. She was shaking.

"So." Toph clapped her hands. "What we've learned today is that Yue already is a waterbender and Sokka could be one. Did this actually do anything except show us none of us know anything?"

"Yes," Aang nodded, "Because now I can feel who is an Airbender. I can refine it, so I don't have to do it through the throat. And, I can see who might become one next."

"What do you mean 'next'? Children?"

"No, them. I think every time I go into the Avatar State, strings are tugged over. I mean, it makes sense. I'm connecting to the Spirit World, bending is spirit gifts in human bodies...so…" Aang gave a shrug.

"Makes sense, I think." Shoji scratched his head. "Are we...uh, flipping his switch?"

Sokka's eyes swung to Shoji, wide as the moon.

"I don't think we can risk going into the Avatar State again." Katara luckily spoke up as Aang fumbled for some explanation. "It was too dangerous the last time, as it was!" She seemed just as spooked and unsettled about Sokka becoming a bender. She was looking at him with guarded eyes. Aang knew a large part of her identity had been the fact she was the only bender in the South. If that was taken away...

Aang just have a nod.

"Yeah, she's right," Toph said. "We don't want to draw attention to Twinkie's true self. Er, sorry, Sokka."

"Fine, yeah, nope, that's, nope."

Aang had never heard Sokka quite so inarticulate.

"What now?" Toph asked.

"Well, I guess we go about our day," Shoji said. Toph flipped him off, which Aang though was an extreme reaction. Then again, she was an extreme person.

"No, literally, I mean what right now. Aiga and Sugar Queen here go back to their rooms, but you three?" She spun to Aang, Shoji, and Sokka.

"Damn, we didn't think about that," Shoji winced.

"Back into my closet you go until morning, I suppose," Toph said, and Aang groaned. That sounded awful.

"I'll bring over some extra pillows from my bed," Katara said, casting the trio a sympathetic look.

"It will be fun," Toph said, sniggering, "Like a slumber party."

"Or, you'll all just go to sleep," Katara corrected with a narrowed look.

"That sounds fine to me," Aang admitted.

As Aiga collected Katara's bedding and Shoji started arranging it, Katara gave Sokka a deep hug. He hugged back, a tender moment that Aang looked away from. He wanted to say something to the Southerner, but frankly, didn't even know where he'd begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are THOSE revelations? Wasn't expecting either of those, huh?
> 
> So, now onto the notes!
> 
> *The reason this took so long to update, is because I thought I'd be done with it before my vacation and I could get it uploaded the day I left. Then, while writing this, I realized I made a HUGE mistake that to keep things in canon, would ruin a HUGE part of the story later. I had to re-write that, and that took time. When things are reveled later in the story, I'll tell you what the mistake was.
> 
> *A reviewer of mine asked if maybe I'd be open to making a Zutara playlist. I LOVE making playlists, so yes! But, I'm curious, what songs do you guys have that when you hear, you immediately think of Zutara?
> 
> *Started writing the drabbles again! The one for Jacpin2002 is posted. If you guys like Bonnie/Kai from The Vampire Diaries, check that out :)
> 
> *I know this was a lot of plot. By the next chapter is ALL zutara and their relationship!
> 
> *Who is also excited that we'll be getting out of the palace? I already have my list, but I'd like to hear your guesses to where you think we'll go/what might happen during these trips!
> 
> *I really hope Aang looking into the souls made sense. It's hard to put onto paper, but I see it in my mind so clearly. #writerprobs
> 
> *On that above note, what I model Avatar genetics is after this post:
> 
> Mendelian Genetics in Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra.
> 
> Copy and past that on the web and you should find the post. It's pretty long but worth a read if you're interested in this sort of thing. Basically, the idea is that with punnet squares, to be a bender, you not only have to have the bending genetic, but the spirit genetic 'flipped' on. So, in my world, bending can be flipped as we saw in Korra. I even went back and re-watched Wan's Beginning. In that, turtle-lions gave bending. My idea is that since they're great spirits, every time they gave bending, they were literally changing someone's DNA with the 'gift', making them 'x' bender or 'y' bender and flipping the spirit genetic. Once the lion-turtles left, people reproduced and it stays as genetics usually do. Aang can flip the spirit genetic as the Avatar, but he can't physically change the make-up of some...ie, give Katara firebending or something. Hopefully this makes sense! If you have any genetic questions to me about how I do it/my headcannon for this world's purposes, feel free to ask it in a review!
> 
> *Lastly, Raven, you have reached a drabble!
> 
> Thanks for your patience! Hope you enjoy this :)


	11. Chapter 11

Katara was scribbling away in the gardens when Zuko found her. She was consolidating the knowledge from the morning lesson with Piandao, having found that manually scribing it helped to secure it in her mind. It was hard to write what Sokka was learning in his classes, since a lot of it was doing instead of 'knowing,' but she managed. She had gone up against Sokka once, and he won.

She was happy for him. He needed a good weapon, something other than a boomerang.

Her mind continued to wonder to Zuko. She was contemplating how to get back at him for that stunt at lunch.

Sitting on his lap in the meeting was her original idea, but upon consideration, that had been among friends. It wasn't the same was Katara spitting up her soup in front of the whole Royal Family and her competitors. Plus, she got the feeling that Zuko enjoyed her action. He probably wasn't even all that upset about it.

Katara needed to up her game.

It needed to be something public, but not something she was obviously trying to do. Part of the reason why the dinner thing had worked so well was because no one knew that Zuko was doing it.

It needed to be something that would cause him mild embarrassment, but nothing that would get him in trouble with his father.

It needed to be simple, or else it would just be obvious how much effort she'd put into this.

Why was thinking of anything within these parameters so difficult?

"Princess Katara!"

Zuko's voice was light, despite the formal title. It was tinged with a humor that made Katara's cheeks blush and her heart race at how glad he was to see her, how the smile on his face seemed to brighten the nearer he got to her.

"Prince Zuko, hello." Katara set her quills to the side, standing up to greet him. He lifted her fingers and gave her a soft kiss on the back of her hand. It was hardly the most scandalous thing they had done. They'd been together in ways far more intimate than something as silly as his lips pressing to her warm tanned skin, but the zing of electricity it sent up Katara's back reminded her of their first kiss. There was something very quiet in the motion, something far more personal than one may think. Katara liked it. She liked kissing him more, but it would hardly be proper in a garden so public, so this would have to do.

She wasn't complaining.

He looked around, and she could see his shoulders relax when he realizes they are more or less alone.

"Katara, I," Zuko was still holding her fingers. "I was looking for you."

"And you've found me," Katara purred. "Should I maybe reward you for that?" she asked, blinking up at him innocently, but her lips curling tell a different story.

She had stepped up close to him, enough so she could see his adam's apple bob as his brain worked through her words.

"Kat." His breath hitched, and he seemed ready to pull her against him, into a small alcove or a forgotten meeting room, but he placeed an inch of space between them. "I wanted to talk to you. I have managed to carve out some space in my schedule, so I will be continuing on with dates with the ladies in an effort to...well, to do as you wish me to do."

"Oh." Katara frowned. Her brow knit. She wasn't sure why this seemed to catch her off guard. It was what she told him to do. "I mean, okay? You didn't have to tell me," she assures, because it would be crazy of her to expect him to inform her before every moment with another girl, not when she knows he's still supposed to be choosing one of them.

"I know, I well." He bit his lip. "I thought I should be the one to tell you, unlike the last time. The first girl I'm taking out on another date is Mai."

Katara thought that there were two ways she could take this info. The first, and the one she wanted to do, was to cuss a little and get angry. He was coming to tell her in a motion of good faith, but it didn't mean she liked Mai. Hated her, really.

The second option, the one she knew was better to go with, still took a second to fully form. She paused, making sure she wasn't going to say something that would get her into a fight with Zuko.

"You couldn't take Suki or Alcina out first?" she asked, attempting to put a tinge of humor into her voice.

"I have to take her on a date eventually, or cut her," Zuko pointed out. "And, despite your opinions - the one written all over your face - I actually...well, like her."

Katara was silent. So, Zuko kept talking. This hadn't been her intention, but she didn't mind the next words.

"Of course, it's hard for me to compare her to you, because you're...well, up here, and the rest are way down here." He makes a motion with his hands. "But Katara, we're...we used to be friends. I'm confident that maybe we can be friends again."

Katara pushed herself up on her heels, cutting him off with a quick kiss. "Zuko, it's fine. You can do on dates with whoever you want. And, I guess, I'm glad you told me."

Zuko relaxed. "Okay."

"However…" Katara raised an eyebrow. "I still think Suki is your best choice after me."

"I haven't forgotten," Zuko clipped, and she couldn't tell if he was upset with her interference. "And I will consider it."

Katara wanted to say more, but in the end, she could not think of anything that wouldn't lead to a big blow out. So, she just played with her fingers. She was a little upset Zuko said nothing else either.

"Enjoy your date," she whispered.

"Do you really mean that?" he asked.

Katara held back something between a laugh and a cry. "Don't ask questions you wouldn't like the answer to."

XXxxXX

Zuko attempted to shake off his frustrations with Katara as he walked to his date with Mai. A part of him wished he'd never even told her, since he sort of knew how it would end. Another part was glad he got it out of the way, because his ribs still ached from the fallout of the  _last_ time he went on a date with Mai and specifically hadn't told Katara.

He didn't want to admit it to Katara, but a part of him was...well, excited for this date with Mai. He could have put it off until he'd cycled through the girls again, but he and Mai had been friends once. He was very much interested in seeing if they could be friends again.

On his way from stopping at his room to grab something for Mai, Azula slid out of the shadows.

Her eyes flickered to the item in his hand. She snorted.

"Going on a date with our darling Mai?"

"Uh, it's not a secret. Any of my attendants could have told you where I was set to be," Zuko said, trying to slide past her. His hands were itching after his minor quarrel with Katara. Oh, did he ever want to fight Azula. Or maybe just punch her. That is, if he found it honorable to punch girls, which he did not. Was Azula truly a girl, though? Or more of a cryptid? Answer unsure.

"Do you think you'd marry her?" Azula asked, coming into step beside Zuko. Zuko gave a shrug that told Azula nothing.

"Well, if she's still here, you have to like her-"

"Did Mai set you up to this? I thought Father strictly forbade you from interfering or trying to bend the competition in your favor." Zuko gave a shake of his head. "I know she's your friend, but honestly-"

"I think we're far past me 'interfering'," Azula pointed out, laughing. "And no, she doesn't have a clue. This is just for me."

"Oh?"

"Actually," Azula said, patting his arm in a motion that made him jump away from her, just out of practice. "I was going to say that I'm not sure Mai is the right one for you anymore."

"Really." Zuko said, absolutely dumbfounded. "But, as children you were impossible when it came to the two of us. I can't count all of the crazy plans you had for us to 'accidentally' get locked in closets together or 'accidentally' have to sit next to each other at dinner. It drove me mad."

"What can I say," Azula said innocently, "People change."

"Uh-huh. And what has caused this drastic shift?"

"Just...oh, intuition. I was actually going to ask what you think of Ty Lee."

"Ty Lee?"

"You know, as a wife."

Zuko held back a laugh. It ended up sounding more like a choking sound. Azula raised a single, manicured eyebrow at him, but waited for him to catch his breath. How kind of her.

Zuko imagined liking Ty Lee like that. Ignoring the fact that he knew how much Aang, his adopted kin, liked her, it was still almost laughable. Plus, Aang may be a pacifist, but he thought he might whoop Zuko's ass, or punch him, if he tried to corner in on Ty Lee.

But even from the beginning, there had never been much there.

It hadn't been like with all the other girls that he'd had an immediate reaction to. In those first brief interviews, if they hadn't interested him (among other key warning flags) he'd sent them home right away. He couldn't say Ty Lee had, but he'd kept her in from their friendship and history. She was also just so nice and Zuko had wanted a kind soul around the palace. He'd, in the beginning, had the hope that perhaps he could grow to appreciate Ty Lee in a romantic way from her caring personality, but it hadn't happened. Plus, Aang had made pretty clear - as much as he tried not to - that he cared for her more than normal.

At this point, the only reason he wasn't sending Ty Lee home was because she was entangled in the mess of the Avatar and there wasn't a reason to make her leave. She seemed to know - although he admitted he'd never asked her - that her fate did not end with Zuko.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Zula?" Zuko questioned. "All that reverse psychology. Just stay in your lane, huh?" Of course, Azula had to be pulling his leg. Getting him to think that Mai wasn't tangled up in Azula and then pick her. It would probably make Azula gleeful to see Mai on the throne.

"Zuko, truly, I am just looking out for you. Do you not trust me?" Azula gaped dramatically.

"No."

Azula laughed to herself. She patted his cheek.

"Probably wise. Except I'm being honest now, dear little brother."

Zuko didn't think it was worth pointing out he was older than her.

"Mhh. Well, I have a date to get to. Please, make yourself useful and…" Zuko frowned. He couldn't actually think of something useful Azula could do. "And just...scram."

"Ohh," Azula said, but started to slow her pace to let Zuko hurry away. "You're just a master with your words, Zuko."

As soon as she was out of sight, Zuko kicked a wall.

"Dammit, Azula!" he cussed under his breath. He left a little scorch mark on the wall. He felt a little bad about it, but he owned the wall, technically, so…

He shook his head out and told himself he was going to enjoy this date.

But what if Azula was telling the truth, and she knew something he didn't, and she was actually looking out for him?

_Azula always lies._

Arg, she'd gotten in his head!

He stopped in an alcove, breathing in hard. He meditated for ten minutes, wiping away his worries. When Uncle had insisted that he learned proper meditation, Zuko had thought him mad. It was proving to be more useful than he'd ever guess of late, however.

He met Mai outside of the tea room, as they'd agreed.

She saw the bouquet of foxgloves in his hand, and for just a second, her eyes softened.

She offered up a quirk of a smile as she accepted them, her fingers rubbing over the petals.

"You remembered," she said.

"Considering when we were ten and I gave you roses and you set them on fire in front of me, I'd be crazy not to."

For all the fronts Mai put up, Zuko knew that - on rare occasions - Mai liked feeling girly and loved just as much as anyone else. It was probably the only romantic gesture he'd manage the whole date, but he was glad this one made her so pleased.

"You're late," she said, her face turning back to a frown. She punched his arm. Not lightly, either. When she punched, it was painful.

"Azula ran into me. Or, came looking for me. I don't know." He decided to test the waters. See if she'd react at all to Azula, if there was truly something that Azula could use to kick her from the competition. Instead, her face stayed impassive. Mai was nothing if not a good warrior. Of course she'd stay impassive.

"Oh? What did she want."

"Nothing important," Zuko said, telling himself Azula was just trying to get under his skin.

"So, where are we going?" Mai asked, walking respectfully next to Zuko. Close enough to indicate they were going somewhere together, but not touching him or his arm, like a good proper highborn lady. Zuko placed her hand on his arm; it was tradition for him to make the first move. She allowed it to stay there, but he could feel her relax just an inch as she moved close enough so her robes brushed his.

"I would say it was going to be a surprise-"

"But I hate surprises," Mai said, her voice devoid of any emotion. Sill, her eyes had a quiet glimmer to them.

"Exactly." Zuko rubbed his fingers over his remaining eyebrow, wincing even though the event they were both thinking about was six years ago and his eyebrow had grown back just fine. Mai noticed and tilted her head.

Zuko found himself wishing for more emotion. It was hard not to compare her to Katara, when all Katara often was was overpowering emotion. Even if she tried to quell it, often it still seeped through. If one didn't know Mai better, they'd think she was bored with the entire world. Well, she was a lot, but Zuko knew that she enjoyed certain things. She'd once even laughed with him.

This date was important in a lot of ways. Zuko was getting to the point where he needed to really examine all the girls carefully. If there wasn't any hint that they could return to the friendship they had as children, Zuko was sorry to say, but he'd have to let Mai go. He wasn't going to marry a girl he would feel estranged from.

"So?" Mai quirked an eyebrow.

"Shooting range on the first level of the city. I heard you've been practicing archery."

Mai tilted her head. "I've mastered throwing knives. I figured it was time for me to expand my skill set."

"Very logical," Zuko nodded. He helped her into the palanquin. It was maybe a twenty minute walk away. If he were with Katara, she'd insist they walk, to the horror of the guards. He didn't have to ask Mai. He knew she'd prefer to be carried.

"Is this acceptable?" Zuko asked.

Now that they were inside, alone, Mai sat right next to him instead of across the way. She nodded, letting herself grin a bit.

"Very much so."

Zuko let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

It was difficult, he wasn't going to lie. There was a lot of Mai to chip away, the Mai that had been raised to be dutifully married off to a highborn Lord, the Mai that her parents had molded her to be. Many Lords may find that more than agreeable. Zuko didn't want that. He wanted a friend in his wife.

He didn't want to overwhelm her, because he knew it was hard to shake the teachings that had been pounded into someone their whole life, but Zuko kept at it with small jokes and soft nudges to her arm, hoping he'd get her to reciprocate.

It was near the middle of their date, after Zuko managed to get a bullseye after a couple of very horrendously aimed arrows, that Mai actually giggled.

"There's hope for you yet," I'd say," she said, arming up again. Zuko had ensured that the range was empty except for them and the waitress bringing them fresh tea.

"Do I hear a joke?" Zuko asked, going over to the sheet and wrenching his arrows from it.

Mai gave a casual shrug, but he could see her usually porcelain cheeks reddening.

"A small jest," she said quickly. She knocked her arrow, but didn't raise it. She tried to, but then looked back at Zuko.

"Stop looking at me like that," she complained, but Zuko wondered if she was enjoying his quiet smile.

Zuko raised his hands in a 'not me' sort of way and purposely looked the other way. He watched her raise the bow out of the corner of her eye, but then she put it down.

"Do you remember," she started slowly, her words never raising above the soft lilt she had used her entire life. "When we were kids and Azula got in trouble for attacking that guard that 'looked at her weird'?"

"Agni, how can I forget?" Zuko barked out a laugh. It had been the first time that Azula had bled as a woman, and she hadn't quite figured out how to control her emotions. "My dad blamed me for it somehow, as though I was supposed to jump in between Azula and the guard and stop Azula. As though someone could stop Azula." He scratched his head. "It would be a bad memory, had you not intervened."

"It wasn't fair," Mai said. "Plus, I don't think your father truly knew what he was getting into."

"You told him that your cycles were synced and you were tempted to give your attendant an unexpected haircut at lunch," Zuko recalled. "My dad had no idea how to handle that admission, nor you talking so plainly about 'woman things'."

"Well, I had to do something," Mai said, and he saw a wide grin slip onto her face. "But, we both know that guard was completely looking at Azula weird."

"Well of course he was! Azula was burning all of her food to ash and then  _eating_  it. It wasn't normal," Zuko said.

"I got in so much trouble for that," Mai recalled. "My dad was furious. 'Mai,'" Mai mimicked in a low voice, "'It is unladylike to talk about your monthlies, in front of the Fire Lord, no less! I am completely horrified.'" Mai shrugged. "But, of course he said it with a completely straight face, and followed it up with saying, 'Can't you see how upset I am.'"

Zuko laughed so hard he snorted. This caused Mai to dissolve into laughter herself, forgetting everything for a second.

"Man, it's good to see you laugh," Zuko said, wiping his eyes.

Mai clammed up. Zuko tried not to wince.

She patted her cheeks, inhaling. Then, silently, she raised the bow and hit the target with scary accuracy.

As she returned from grabbing the arrow, Zuko sighed.

"Mai, you're enjoying this date, right?"

Mai frowned, looking upset. "Well, of course I am. Is that not obvious?"

Zuko considered what would be the worst option; lying or telling the truth. He was the Heir Apparent, he decided. Truth it was.

"Honestly? No. You're so hard to read these days. I hardly know if you even want to be in the competition or if it's your parents who want this."

Mai's frown deepened. At least she wasn't throwing knives at him yet, which maybe meant he hadn't horrendously screwed up.

"I want to be here, Zuko," she said slowly, as though he was a child, like it should be so clear. "Very much so."

"Oh."

"I...I hadn't not realized...it's…" She struggled against all of her professional teachings. "I would think it would be unbecoming of me to show my emotions so clearly. Crass."

"When have I ever cared about that?" Zuko asked, tilting his head. Mai seemed to be considering his words carefully, digesting them. Zuko had no idea what her next response would be. Instead of all the things he'd predicted, it was a soft string of four words.

"No, I suppose not."

XXxxXX

Katara didn't want to think about what his date with Mai was like. Was Mai tenderly holding his hand? Was she staring longingly into his eyes, while he stared back? Were they kissing?

Okay, all of those things seemed extremely unlikely to Katara, but she couldn't help thinking of them. Even imagining Mai doing normal Mai things with Zuko, like practicing her aim with her shierkins or painting happy things black grated at her mind, leaving Katara unable to do anything other than obsess over this damned date. Maybe it would have been better to just find out later, instead of him telling her beforehand.

She found herself aimlessly wandering around the castle, hoping to stumble upon something worth the effort or for an event to take her mind off things. She considered finding Sokka and challenging him to spar with some of the weapons, but she knew she was very distracted. It would be dangerous to be around sharp pointy things with her mind halfway somewhere else.

"Katara, hey!"

Katara blinked as Suki jumped in front of her path, wearing a casual dress.

"I was calling your name for like the past five minutes," she teased. "You were somewhere else entirely."

"I guess." Katara winced. "What are you up to? Practicing for the fights?"

As she'd walked around the palace, she'd run across a large number of girls practicing different fighting methods, reminding Katara of the steadily approaching date in front of them. Katara was nervous about that, but less so than most of the girls. A lot of these Palace ladies had never done anything violent in their lives.

"Oh, ha, no," Suki shrugged. "I mean, I'm concerned, but I'm also confident," she said. "Kyoshi prepared me for something like this."

"They prepared you for the day you'd have to fight one of your possible future in-laws?" Katara asked, a sly smirk creeping onto her face.

"Not that exactly, but for something like an Agni Kai," Suki said. She steered Katara off the path to a blanket where it seemed she'd just been enjoying the sun. There was an open ink pot and some parchment rolled, telling Katara she'd been writing home. "But to be honest, I don't know if even fighting in this will help me win this."

"Oh, you mean, Zuko." Katara said. It was easy to forget with her friends, such as Yue or Suki or Alcina, that they were all here to win Zuko's heart too. What once had been a commonality between the girls just left a bitter taste in her mouth. She doubted they'd step aside to allow Katara to win, as kind as they were, if the Prince proposed to them.

Maybe that's why she'd become so close with Toph of late. She knew that Toph had zero interest in Zuko at all.

Still, she didn't want any awkwardness between her and Suki. She genuinely liked the warrior.

"I told Zuko to marry you."

She wasn't sure where the words came from. Maybe, had she not been so distracted, she would have thought it through before blurting them. Or, maybe not.

Either way, the words tumbled out in a rush in some attempt to make sure that there wasn't any weirdness in their friendship. She wasn't sure it achieved that effect.

Suki snapped her head up, eyes widening.

"You...oh…"

At first, she just seemed shocked. Then, her whole face creased, like a parchment in someone's fist, as she just stared at Katara.

"I have been, since he proposed to me. I told him that I think out of everyone, you'd make a good Fire Lady. Fair, nice, kind...I know you'd treat him right. He deserves someone who really will. Not someone who just wants the throne. I don't think you do. I think you like him for who he is. He's so much more than just a title, and I think that at the end of the day, you could be the person he's real with. Ground him too. He can fly off the handle a little, needs someone earthy," Katara continued. "But, I'm sure you've thought of all this about yourself too."

"Well, I suppose, yes." Suki was still looking at her with a face that told Katara maybe she'd said the wrong thing.

"I didn't mean to overstep. Tui, I just...I wanted you to know that while we're both in a competition I don't want any of that cattiness. That, in truth, I'm gunning for you."

"I'm touched. Honestly." Suki seemed finally able to shake her head of that look. "I...thank you."

"I don't know if he'll listen," Katara whispers.

"He seems to listen to you a lot," Suki considers.

"Not about this. He'd only choose a wife he really likes."

Katara can see now why it might have been ill-advised to say something. She wouldn't want Suki to think she's been picked as a second choice, just Zuko listening to Katara.

"Katara, it's clear you care about him." Suki laughs a little. It seems a little forced. "The way you talk about him…" She shakes her head. "Can I...be frank?"

"I guess, since I was just maybe a little too honest with you, it's only fair."

"Zuko proposed to you. You denied it. He's head over heels for you, you're in really deep…" She seemed to be considering her next words very carefully. "You have to be prepared to lose him."

"I am!" Katara argued, "I told him to marry you!"

"You're not," Suki said sharply. "And I get it. Feelings don't just vanish. But I know that he's currently on a date right now with Mai, and I'd bet my place in this competition that's what's got your head so far away. You can't not think about it. Is this how you're going to spend the rest of your life if he really does marry me?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Katara scoffed, a little angry with her.

"Is it really, though?" Suki muses out loud. "You don't get to play with his feelings-"

"Hey!" Katara stood in a huff.

"That was maybe a little harsh, but damn it, Katara!" Suki grabbed her arm, forcing her to stay put. "You declined his proposal and you're still here. You think that any of the rest of us could get away with that? For as much as you're telling him one thing, your actions are saying another."

Suki's grip loosened and she sighed, tilting her head and looking at Katara. Katara bit her lip, trying not to get over-emotional about this. Somewhere, she knew Suki was right.

"Maybe," Suki whispered, "The best thing to do for him and his chance at truly loving someone else is to leave?"

Katara wanted to hate Suki. She wanted to shove her, fight her, make her recant all those words. But she couldn't. Not when Suki said it so delicately, not when she looked so pained to say it herself. Not when, deep down, they were the same thoughts that had been swirling around in her own mind.

"I'll think about it." It seemed like too little to say, but in reality, Katara would. She also needed to be alone. Suki's eyes searched hers before the girl gave a sharp nod.

Once her arm was free, Katara fled.

She found a space inside, near a closet of some sort, and she pressed herself against the wall, breathing hard. She didn't feel like crying, but something in her chest was constricting.

She wanted Zuko so badly. She didn't think it was possible for her to cut him away, not when he still wanted her here.

But a part of Suki had been right. She wasn't sure he'd ever be able to look past her to other girls when she was still around. A part of her hoped he wouldn't, that spiteful part of her that had gotten her in trouble so many times in the past.

But Katara was selfish. She wasn't sure she could take herself out of this game quite yet. Not until something else forced her out. If not Zuko, then Ozai, or losing the Agni Kai, or something she couldn't yet guess. At that point, she'd go. She'd go without a fight, she promised. She would leave so Zuko could move on, and maybe she too. She'd return home and rule her land and maybe cross paths with him once in a blue moon.

She felt better, even with this 'plan' that, in reality, was not a plan and was pretty vague.

Still, it felt like there was more of a moment she was hurtling toward when her time here would be done.

So, she had a choice.

She had - at the very least - maybe a couple more weeks here. If she somehow won her Agni Kai, maybe a couple months at best. In that time, she could go about her way two options.

One: she could pull back, restrict her interactions with Zuko. So that, by the time she left, he'd hardly notice her presence gone.

Two: she could be greedy of every part of him, soaking in the last time she'd ever get with him.

Would that be cruel, she wondered, to spend every moment with him, enjoy kissing him and dressing up as the Spirits with him, only to leave abruptly?

But, she argued, if she wasn't enjoying her time with Zuko now, why was she even still here? If she went with plan one, what was the point? Wouldn't it just be better to leave tomorrow if she intended to hardly speak with him above the minimum and not touch him?

Katara dropped her head into her hands and groaned. Things would be so much easier if he hadn't proposed and they could have just carried on without that milestone being...jumped over. If she was still just a constant, her presence wouldn't be such a difficulty.

She laughed, and considered that she might be going batty, and then laughed a little more.

She might be the only girl in this history of The Choice to be upset over a proposal from the Prince.

XXxxXX

"Did you kiss Mai?"

Zuko pulled back, frowning.

"In the middle of our make-out session, you're seriously wondering about me kissing someone else?"

Yes, when he put it like that, it did seem a little ridiculous.

Katara gave an uneasy chuckle, her fingers curling in the hair at the nape of his neck.

They were currently in one of the still-rubbled rooms from the attack, a room that had yet to be fixed and repaired, other than clearing out the debris. It had been Zuko's idea, or maybe Katara's, maybe both. Either way, it was a spot where they were unlikely to be interrupted.

If Katara was a better person, she'd encourage Zuko away from meeting her in secret shadowy spots, but in truth, maybe she wasn't.

And, she reminded herself, she might be a bad person in general, since she'd clearly been unable to enact option one for more than ten seconds after Zuko asked to meet up with her in the night, placing her in option two.

And, oh, was Katara enjoying him…

"Call me crazy, but I just have to know," she shrugged.

"I think you're a little jealous," Zuko whispered, nipping at her neck, his tongue flicking out to lick over the area his teeth had grazed. "And I guess I'm equally as crazy, because I'm liking it far more than I should."

"Zuk-oh!" Katara's tone pitched as he found one of her sensitive spots, biting it a little bit harder than before. She quivered, hands grasping at the stiff material of his robes, nails ranking on his shoulders.

"No, I didn't," Zuko breathed, panting. "And to be honest, my date with Mai isn't what I want to be talking about."

Katara just managed a hum, cut off as his lips dragged upwards, back to her own. She was sort of sitting in his lap right now, facing him, as he sat on a nearly un-destroyed couch. There were a couple scorch marks on it, but other than that, it was in good condition, enough for a pair of lovers to utilize for the hour they had.

Katara lifted her hands to his hair again, scratching his scalp as she tried to press herself closer to him, desperately. She was wearing one of her under-clothes sets and he still had on his day's outfit, and Katara wanted to reduce the number of clothes they were wearing to zero.

In a flash of a moment in which her hands were not connected to her brain at all, it seemed, her fingers began to fumble for the clasps of his ornately embroidered jacket. Zuko's response was to gasp a bit, and trail his hands down to the area right above her lower back, pressing his palms against her. It caused her to rock forward a bit, sending a shiver up both of their spines.

"What would you rather be talking about?" Katara asked, tearing her lips away to focus on the tiny and difficult sewn buttons. She managed to get them. Zuko seemed all too pleased to shrug off his jacket. He was still so warm underneath, but it was one step closer to his bare skin against her own.

"I don't really want to talk at all," Zuko admitted, his left hand tracing at the laces on her back, the ones that were really the only thing keeping her dress on her at the moment. She wondered if he was gathering the courage to yank it, but one look into his gold eyes told her he was more or less teasing her.

In the end, his fingers strayed back to her front. She wondered if it was truly because he liked to watch her squirm, or if he hadn't been ready for that yet. She certainly knew that from the pair of them, she was the more sexually advanced. Even if he was a boy, he could still be unsure about certain steps. Katara would never want to rush him. She enjoyed this just as much.

Zuko seemed to enjoy it as well; she knew how she affected him. She wanted him to be the one pushing the boundaries, though. She'd let him take the pace.

She'd pretty much agree to whatever he wanted to do, however far he wanted to go.

"Let me…" Zuko mumbled, and before he could finish his thought, he was flipping them so that she was now laying on the couch. He hovered above her for just a second before diving back in for more contact, his mouth frantically seeking hers, his hands gripping her waist. Katara wrapped her legs around his, sighing in bliss as she felt his hips thrust forward just a little bit, enough to give the ache she was feeling a momentary respite.

"Oh, gods," she whispered.

Zuko's nose nudged her jawline, when he exhaled, steam left perspiration on her skin.

"Mhh?"

"I just...I lo-"

Katara paused. She started, so suddenly that Zuko sat up off of her.

It had been like her lips hadn't been connected to her, either. It seemed, in general, when she was around Zuko, her body parts seemed to work without consulting her. She hadn't even known what she was about to say.

That's a lie. She did sort of know, even if she wasn't sure where the declaration was coming from.

"Katara." Zuko pulled her up to him.

"I...whew, can we go back to kissing?" Katara asked weakly.

His fingers laced with hers.

"Please finish that sentence. Please."

He was flat out begging. The desire and want in his voice overwhelmed her. Not the sexy type, but the desire for her, as Katara, and her emotions to be voiced. She hadn't ever considered until now the weight of any word, but this tiny four-letter one had Zuko completely unraveled, even if it was half-said.

Katara dragged her legs underneath her, clasping her palms over her lips.

"It's not fair to you," Katara argued weakly. This, though, wasn't fair. This whole situation. Nothing was. She didn't need to make it worse.

"I don't care," Zuko said heatedly. "Katara, please."

"You know this will end." Katara motioned between them. "It would be easier if we didn't."

Zuko was silent, his gaze fixated on her with such pain that it nearly caused Katara to say it, just to see his face brighten.

"Why," she asked in a low, quiet voice, "does it matter so much? Do you really want to hear it, even if it will just hurt you?"

"It matters," Zuko replied softly. "I would rather hear it said once, and know that I did hear it, than let you go without ever hearing it at all."

Katara's heart hammered.

"And, look, I'll...the last time, it all came out and we brushed it away, but I think we both knew. I love you Katara. Please, please, can you say it back to me?"

Somehow, Katara felt her emotions overwhelm her.

Maybe it was hearing him say those words so easily, when she was stumbling over them herself, that made her brain jump to an imagined scenario where they were married years down the line. She imagined he'd say that to her as they woke up in the morning, snuggling closer to her, and she'd be able to say it back as easy as breathing.

She didn't mean to cry. Agni, she hated crying, but this entire scenario was really frying her wits.

Zuko's eyes immediately widened in panic.

"Hey, hey!" He shushed and patted her arm gently. Seeing Katara cry must terrify him, she figured, since she was usually such a strong figure. "Look, I didn't mean to…pressure you...damn it. Look, you don't have to say it. You never have to say it, if you don't want to. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

He was so concerned, Katara couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Oh, Zuko," she breathed out, wiping her cheeks. "I'm not ready, but that's not why I was crying," she assured, and was relieved to see his shoulders sag.

"Then, what?"

"I was just...imagining this...us," Katara whispered. She didn't say the truth. The truth being that she didn't want to leave him. But it wasn't just him. She didn't want to leave her friends, or Aiga, or Aang, or the people of the town, or her Painted Lady costume. The world had become so much more full since arriving here. "And how hard it will be to leave." She decided this was the softer way to phrase it.

"It grows on you, I guess." Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. "Despite annoying sisters and scary fathers. But, the palace is pretty. It has its perks."

"It's not even that, it's you," Katara said, feeling like Zuko deserved something. "I think, had we met differently, I still would be drawn to you. If we were two peasants or if I were an actual heiress and you were the commoner or any other worldly incarnation."

"We do work well together," Zuko said, and as his fingers led a trail up her arm, she considered how electrifying he always felt to her. "We make a good team."

"Us," Katara rephrased, "We make a good us."

That was the crux of it, wasn't it? Take away everything and she wanted Zuko, the person. Not the Fire Nation, not the politics, not the competition or the money. Just him. If there was any way this world could be reversed or she did not have to choose between her people and Zuko, she'd pick him. Without question.

"I think the hour is up," Zuko said, sighing. "I...thank you, Katara."

"I didn't say it," Katara said, frowning. Or, she hadn't said what he so wanted to hear.

Zuko re-buttoned his jacket. He gave a little shrug. "You said other things that mattered. So, maybe, you didn't have to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed that last scene ;) And anyone have a guess what Azula is up to? Do you think she's being honest? If so, why?
> 
> So, in the date scene, as much as I disliked Mai in the series, I figured I give her a fighting chance in this one. Well, not a fighting chance WITH ZUKO, but to be liked. She's, at least, an interesting character to write!
> 
> I might be able to start updating once a week once summer hits and I have less on my plate. MIGHT. No promises. Though, if you want this to happen, show me some love!
> 
> I'm totally editing and posting this chapter to 'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimerron'. Who else remembers that? Ah, memories...
> 
> Anyway, for those of you who celebrate it, happy Easter! Next chapter our girls go to the first location. Anyone have a guess where?


	12. Chapter 12

"I wonder what this big announcement is going to be," Saoirse twittered quietly to Yue as all the girls gathered in the sitting room they'd first filed into on their first day.

It had felt so crowded then, Katara mused. Of course, they were a good number of girls down from the original complete set, but the feeling of being alone in a difficult new setting had also made Katara feel very alone, even with 35 girls always around. There were still a lot of contestants - more than the Fire Sages would prefer at this stage - but it didn't feel like as many because Katara knew all these girls. She might not like all of them- she'd readily admit she disliked a handful - but the fact that she knew weird intimate details about all of them made the group feel smaller. More compact.

She gazed around at the girls sitting in their large skirts. Of course, Zhi had taken out the unnecessary chairs, but the places where friends had once sat still felt like they lingered.  _Like Eva_ , Katara thought with a depressed sigh. The letters between her and her Northern friend had been slow coming. She was blind now, so she could hardly blame her. Still, she was biting at the bit to make sure Eva was okay.

"Something huge, or else it wouldn't be so formal," Yue whispered back logically. It wasn't just the girls sitting here. The room was packed all around, even if the girls were sitting up front. Sokka was leaning on a back wall, having given up his seat for an elderly delegate from some tiny Earth Kingdom town. Hahn and Arrluck had been seated, but as soon as they'd seen Sokka graciously offer to stand, had jumped up to find an  _older_  and  _more in need_  delegate to offer their chairs to. Or, at least Hahn had. Arrluck had given his chair to a middle-aged woman, and Hahn had whispered angrily about something to him. Everything was a competition between the two Water Tribes. Katara would call them childish, but she also knew that if provoked, she would be just as determined to show Hahn up.

Point of the matter, this was a wide-reaching announcement, one that required everyone's attendance. Many of the delegates were in the room here. It did point to a large sort of event happening.

From across the room, Toph sent Katara a raised eyebrow look. It seemed to ask 'spill the beans, sis'. But Katara just shook her head back, hoping Toph picked up on it. She had no idea what was happening. Zuko had not given her any cues to what this was.

As Katara thought back, the only thing she thought of was how Zuko had suddenly left the room when they'd been pouring over the census reports. He had a funny look in his eye, that of a man who was planning something some might call mad, but he'd left so swifty that Katara had been unable to pick his brain. In the following days, she'd simply forgotten.

Until now.

She crossed her arms, sliding low in her seat. She was glad there were so many ladies, for if they were alone, Zhi would have been appalled at her posture, commanding her to correct it at once. Zhi was flitting around doing something else, something probably related to this, but Katara couldn't be sure. Zhi always seemed one task away from a colossal anxiety-driven breakdown, but that was just what Katara saw.

So no, she wanted to tell back to Toph, she had not the foggiest what was about to be announced.

There was a table set out in front, one that had been brought in for this. It was scattered with sheets of parchment and Katara wished she could peer up at what they were, but a set of guards stood stoically beside it, only allowing the Royal Family to view the sheets. They seemed to know what was about to be said.

Ozai didn't linger on it long, which soothed Katara's nerves. Anytime Ozai gave an announcement it always turned bottom-up. His track record with 'surprises' made Katara nervous whenever he was the one reading the proclamation.

"What's your wildest guess?" Suki asked Katara, nudging her shoulder. "The most ridiculous thing that you think they might say right now."

Alcina, on Katara's other side, laughed sharply, drawing the attention of a couple delegates two rows behind them. She stifled her amusement, trying to sober.

"Great fun! Hmm, lemme think…" she said over Katara.

"The sad thing is," Katara let a smile curl upon her face, "Is that with how ridiculous things have been, the most ridiculous guess may end up true."

"It is." Suki raised a finger. "If any of you manage to guess right, I'll convince the Warriors on Kyoshi to train you in our fighting style. Full out. Not many outsiders get that."

Katara admitted this was a good prize. Alcina's eyes were gleaming with excitement.

"If you get it," Alcina offered, "You can come train with the Fire Masters in my town. They're looking into how to incorporate other styles of bending into Firebending and currently they're studying old Airbending movies. It's very hard to get into these classes. My father helped start the school," she preened. Katara also agreed this was a good prize for Suki. She wanted Suki's more. She could simply have Aang teach her moves if she so wanted.

"Okay, best and most unimaginable guesses, go. I don't want something semi-plausible, I want 'never in a million years,'" Suki said, clapping her hand once.

"I think," Alcina swiveled around in her chair, humming, "That the Fire Sages have decided the competition is drawing on far too long and they've decided that the next Fire Lady to be named will be the most beautiful turtle-duck in the pond. They've decided that the rest of us will be paired up with the single delegates, lottery-style. I hope, if that happens, I get that silver-fox right over there. The Fire Nation dude that looks seriously ripped."

Katara and Suki dared a look behind them. Katara blinked, having never seen such an attractive older man before. Suki fake-fanned herself.

"You know, if he is single, perhaps Prince Zuko could make introductions for you," Suki winked. "You should get something nice out of this, eh?"

"I'm just saying..." Alcina rubbed her neck, blushing a bit.

"Okay. That was good. Me next," Suki offered up. "Hmm, I think they are going to announce that along with the fights, they'll be hosting a talent show to go along with it. Fire Lord Ozai will be performing with ribbons and ballet, Princess Azula will do a surprisingly moving and heart wrenching interpretive dance about a fire lilly caught in a sea storm, General Iroh and Prince Lu Ten will just get up there and make tea, Ursa will shock us with her abilities to play an instrument with her toes, Kuzon will read his erotic poetry he works on in his spare time, and Prince Zuko will do magic tricks."

Katara and Alcina were in stitches. Katara was laughing so hard, or attempting to stifle her laughter so much, that it hurt. The fact that she had to keep quiet just made her laugh even harder. Alcina's eyes were watering.

"Oh, Agni, I hope you're right!" Alcina breathed. When they managed to get their laughter down, the girls looked at Katara.

"I don't know if I can follow that up!" Katara sighed, shaking her head at Suki.

"Oh, come on! I'm sure that there's a thousand more impossible things out there," Suki urged. Katara held up a hand, considering it.

"Fine. Uhm..." Katara scratched her head. "They're announcing Azula's betrothal. To a lower-ring peasant. The wedding will be held tomorrow, everyone will be barefoot, and there will be traveling bairds playing quaint folk music. The food will be just bread. Nothing else. Just bread. Azula will give up all of her worldly possessions to make homemade jewelry as her career while her husband plays in a semi-competent all-flugelhorn band. And here's the kicker; she's madly in love and won't complain at all about it."

Suki snorted hard into her hand. "You're right, that is completely unbelievable. Perhaps even more so than mine."

Alcina was about to add something on, but Zuko walked into the room. Immediately the conversation ceased. Alcina sent a smile to her friends.

"Here's to hoping I'm right," she mouthed to them, sending a thumbs up.

Katara raised an eyebrow; crazier things had happened.

XXxxXX

Zuko stood in front of the gathered people, probably 100 in numbers. His uncle had pointed out that instead of doing three to five small explanations, it may be more efficient to do one large one. It seemed logical, though he wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it. It had created quite the buzz in the room, however.

His family was already sitting for the announcement. He'd been surprised about how willing his father had been to pitch in in helping him with this. It was almost...kind?

A part of Zuko thought that he was just doing it because it would be easier for Zuko to have some tragic accident abroad. He'd get the Equalists to do it. It would be the perfect crime.

Maybe he shouldn't be so jaded. Maybe his dad truly wanted to help.

Zuko doubted it, though.

He needed not to quiet the room. They had fallen silent as soon a he'd walked in.

While he was confident in his ability to say what this new plan was going to be, he realized with a sense of horror that he had no idea how to start this speech.

"Hello, all," he said brightly, like a tour guide or something. He immediately regretted it. He tried not to wince. Damn it, he'd blown it. Can't restart it. Urg. He'd almost waved with it. Thank Agni he hadn't.

"As is tradition, usually there is a location that the Prince and his remaining ladies will visit outside of the palace, and do some charity work while there." Zuko decided to dive right into it. The more he talked, the less nervous he felt. "And I do realize that those of you who have been around for a Choice know the timing of this is strange. Yes, usually it is not until the top five are present that we do this, and let me assure you, I do not intend to cull it down to five right now." Around the room, more than one lady let out an audible sigh of relief. He probably should have started with that.

"I have talked with my most venerable Father, and we have decided that the Future Fire Lady would benefit more from going to a variety of places. Our reach is wide and diverse, and it is impossible to give the ladies just a taste of what they may one day rule by going to one place. So, in the upcoming moons, will be taking small convoys of girls to different locations all over the map."

This did sent the room into a tizzy. From what it seemed, a positive excited one. Well, there was that.

"You are all in here, because up at front, I have a list of the cities and territories we wish to visit. If you're sitting it here and not a contestant, that likely means your city is on the list and I wish to speak with you about housing arrangements and any jobs that will need to be done in the city. As for the ladies; you may submit an an application to go to as many or as few locations as you please. Zhi has lists for all of you with her at front. She also has tomes on the regions, and you have the delegates sitting here now to ask as well. We will pick the most convincing essays. These will be due in three days time."

The girls started looking around, murmuring to each other. He saw Katara even was smiling. He was happy she was happy. If she was unhappy, well, he wouldn't cancel this whole thing, but he'd be less excited about it.  
He hoped she put her application in for all of them. He knew her to be a talented writer. She might just manage to get on all the trips, if she put her mind to it.

There was a long pause. His father nodded to him to continue. Zuko stifled a groan, swallowing it deep.

"Also," He plastered a fake smile on his face. "Tomorrow, all the ladies and I will be going to Ember Island as a taste of what is to come. Arrangements and travel has already been set. Zhi will tell you all what you'll need to pack."

He saw the girls' faces light up, but he was not thrilled.

Firstly, taking the entirety of the convoy of participants was exactly what Zuko had been looking to avoid. Picking them up here and taking them there, wherever there was, didn't help them at all, except make them more likely to be attacked, as they would be in an unfamiliar group and it would take 50 guards to safeguard them at the beach.

Secondly, he just hated Ember Island on principal. His family's summer house, surprisingly, wasn't big enough to fit the necessary girls and guards, so they'd be staying elsewhere. That made it a little bit better, but a lot of dark memories still hung around from the beach in the fact that they were good memories. It was backwards, yes but something so good had to be fake. He hated that there was a time he'd believed in the goodness of his father, in the pureness of Azula, for he now knew those thing to be false.

Lastly, Zuko just did not like any sort of beach. Ember Island specifically, but all beaches were pretty bad in his opinion. But girls loved beaches. It wouldn't be a vacation for him, not with all of them vying for his attention.

Ugg.

But, as Ozai had pointed out, there were a few girls here who did not possess good rhetoric and may not make the cut for any locations. Or, they may be homebodies. Frankly, Zuko thought that if you didn't like traveling, trying to be the future Fire Lady was the wrong business for you. But the girls deserved something good.

Zuko had no such illusions his father was altruistic. There was some other plot there, though of what, Zuko could not imagine.

XXxxXX

Zuko left right after he finished his speech, probably to avoid the hoards of questions coming his way, or girls trying figure out how to sneak their way onto all of the trips. He went into a room and called in delegates one by one.

Katara didn't know if she wanted certain ladies to come to the South Pole. Why else would Sokka be there? She hoped Sokka could pick the girls going to their home. Someone like Nadhari would not be welcome there.

The girls were handed the list of locations and immediately they all began pouring over the lists of places. It was split into regions, but the dates near it showed that Zuko intended to have this continue into many moons.

"Great spirits, he doesn't think he'll have picked a wife by then?" Jin murmured, frowning at the lists. Katara actually wasn't aware of how how long the other girls thought this would go.

"Maybe this is just in case. Obviously, at the point he's made a choice, he'll stop the trips," Maiha theorized.

From the other side of the room, Katara heard Nadhari snickering.

"I don't even like traveling all that much and I don't really want to go," she was saying to no one in particular, "But I know I'm a skilled writer and I'm not going to say no to spending quality time with the Prince. It seems it will be small groups. Maybe even...one on one?" she was purring.

Katara gagged a little. She hoped Zuko saw right through her.

Katara was unsure if she wanted to go on every single trip. While she was curious about the world abroad, she also knew this was a lot of time spent in carriages or ships. She tapped her lip, humming and sighing as she stared at the list. The South wasn't planned for later down the line, far later. She did have to wonder if he anticipated having picked a wife at that point, and would be visiting Katara married.

She pushed away that thought.

"How many will you be going on?" she asked Suki.

"I hope to get on at least half," Suki said. "I think that staying here will also have it's benefits. Sure, no Prince Zuko, but perhaps we'll be given more responsibility here while he's gone. More chances to prove that we can make choices when he's away. The lady picked needs to hold her on in the partnership, of course."

"Do you think if it's your own town you're automatically added in?" Alcina asked, tapping where 'KYOSHI' was written.

"I'd imagine if you wanted to, yes," Suki laughed. "It would be weird to leave you."

"Hey," Toph said, plopping in a free chair, twirling it around to face Katara, sitting on it completely the wrong way, as only Toph could. "Does this seem weird to you? This seems weird to me."

"Not weird," Katara decided. "Just...I think we're not getting all the information, you know?"

Why had this plan come to Zuko in the middle of trying to look into airbenders? Were the two connected? Katara decided she needed to think about that one more.

"I have no desire to go any place." Toph scrunched up her nose. "Because I have a certain degree of freedom here, ya know? Out there, I have to put back on bad makeup and act all prissy again."

"Oh, come on, not even your home?" Alcina asked.

"Especially not there!" Toph sounded horrified.

"What about Kyoshi? That might be fun," Katara said, grinning at Suki. Sokka had wandered over to sit, trying to answer the girls coming up to quiz him about the South in answers somewhere between serious and joking. Katara could tell he was torn between wanting to give the girls information that was true, since much of the reports about the South were just straight up wrong, and not wanting to encourage too many people there.

"Well," Toph paused. "Yes, that."

Not soon after, Zhi had found an aid to write for Toph.

"That's not fair!" Nadhari threw a fit. "We have to write our own, she shouldn't get hlep! For all we know, that aid is making it sound way better!"

"I'm blind, you walnut," Toph snapped back, which was probably the least offensive phrase in her possession. "So, unless you'd like to give me your eyes, be my guest. Or, to make it fair for all of us, you all could pen yours blindfolded."

"Lady Bei Fong is not getting any special treatment. The aid is writing verbatim what she says." Zhi sounded exhausted with Nadhari.

"Ugly sea-cow," Sokka muttered in Nadhari's general direction under his breath. Toph high-fived him.

XXxxXX

The ferry with the girls moved at a brisk pace, enough to cut through the waves and send salty mist from the breaking waves onto the faces of girls leaning over the railing. Some were pushed out as far as they could so that when the vomited it wasn't on the desk, while some girls were wide-eyed with enthusiasm, having never been near water before. Those that came from the Earth Kingdom had to, but some of the girls surrounding the capitol probably just traveled on roads and horses.

Katara looked upon the girls before her with a half-smile on her face. The energy was so palpable that it was hard not to be in a good mood. She was glad those that had never been on the water were so interested and she felt awful for those whose stomachs did not agree with the sea.

Not many in the South got sea-sick. Katara was unsure if it was an inherited trait or if their vessels were not big enough to cause such illness, but she'd always felt more comfortable on boats and ice than on dry land. She had crawled up on top of a metal box, legs dangling precariously over the side of the ship, right near the front. Zhi was attempting to sooth the sick girls, so she hadn't a chance to demand Katara down from there.

"Is this where the cool kids sit?" Sokka asked, tapping his knuckles against the metal. Sokka, Hahn, and Arrluck had managed their way onto this trip, along with Azula and Kuzon. The extra teens were - to most- not an unwelcome addition. Katara could have only done with Sokka and Aang, but she knew Aang was miserable on this trip too. Sokka at least seemed excited.

"Yeah, but I don't know if you qualify," Katara teased. Sokka sent her a dirty motion, shaking his head. Katara rolled her eyes and helped him up, scooting over. It was only a moment later before Zuko appeared.

"Make room," he said firmly. "Spirits...I already regret this."

The area where Katara had found was relaxing to her for the very reason it was hard to find and mostly only where the crew walked between. A perfect place to hide away from the group of girls. They had a good view of the main decks, and the sea-wind carried conversations to Katara's ears, but unless you were searching hard, you likely wouldn't have found Katara.

"Toph is for sure regretting it," Katara winced, pointing to where she was sitting with her head in a bucket, moaning.

"We'll be there soon," Zuko said, more automatically than anything, and Katara got the feeling he'd been asked this more than once in the last hour. It took about six hours to get to Ember Island...just past the point where people started getting antsy.

The pair of siblings moved so Zuko was the most out of view, both wanting to protect him from annoying girls. The crew raised an eyebrow at the trio, but didn't give up his location. Jeong-Jeong, a newly minted member of Zuko's personal guard (if Katara was recalling his name correctly) noted Zuko, for he always was watching Zuko, and was asked where the Prince was. Zuko tensed, but Jeong-Jeong just shrugged.

"I couldn't possibly say," he lied convingly. Katara smiled; Zuko needed loyal men, even if it was allowing their prince a moment to breathe.

"I can't stay forever. Soon, they'll for sure all notice," Zuko grouched.

"You know, for a man going on a vacation, you sure seem...grumpy," Sokka observed.

"Forced vacation. This wasn't my idea." Zuko threw his arms out.

"A lot of the girls are looking forward to lounging on the beach, doing nothing," Katara said, having picked up those sentiments.

"Now is not the time for nothing!" Zuko angrily shook his head. "Agni, I-" He punched the metal box, his fist heating it. Katara scooted over to not burn her dress. "There is far too much going on for me to just be doing  _nothing_  right now. I want a break, trust me I do, but not at the expense of people who could die while we're building bonfires and suntanning."

Katara liked both of those things as much as the next person, but Zuko said the activities like there was nothing more disgusting and appalling. But Katara understood, in part. She didn't understand all of these trips, but she gleaned enough that it was more or less a cover. Ember Island was strictly a vacation house, therefore, useless.

"I feel like a child, still being pulled this way and that way by my father. He insisted on this. He...he wanted all of us out of the palace, though I don't know why," Zuko murmured softly. Katara didn't even have a guess.

"Remind me to never complain about our father again," Sokka nudged Katara. "Even when he yells at me for something that's not my fault."

"Oh, because it's never your fault," Katara snorted.

"Well, hardly my fault. But, you get the point. Yeesh, Zuko."

Zuko gave a quirk of a smile. "Yeesh is right. He's a monster."

He said it so plainly that it quieted the siblings. They sat in blessed silence until a high-pitched tone pierced the air.

"Prince Zuk- _oooo_!"

Zuko cussed. "That's Zhi. Sounds like my time is up."

Katara squeezed his hand quickly. "You'll know where we are if you need to escape for a second again."

Zuko crawled down. "You two have the right idea. There's a reason I like you both."

After Zuko left, there wasn't much for Sokka and Katara to talk about. So, they instead leaned in toward the sound coming from the main decks, listening to the snippets of conversation floating their way.

They found out that Zuko had been called away because On Ji had fainted on the decks, right where their view cut off. They heard Toph cuss  _many_  times in between vomiting. They heard Ratana speaking a mile a minute about how the water here was so much better than her water at home. They heard Ty Lee sliding up near Mai, trying to engage her in a friendship that they once had.

"Do you remember when Azula and Zuko used to come here every summer? And how we wanted to go with them so badly?" she asked, twirling her hair.

"Yes," Mai replied in a monotone voice. "Though that was their personal house. This will be different."

"Everything's different now," Ty Lee sighed, trying not to have her tone darken too much. Sokka sent Katara a half-way worried frown. Katara, having gotten closer to Ty Lee, almost wanted to comfort her. But that would seem strange. To outsiders, their friendship was that of just two fellow competitors. But Ty Lee was not so much someone in need of defending. She was strong, and Katara often forgot that. Case in point; she forced a bright lit to her voice. "They used to have so much fun. I'm sure we will too."

XXxxXX

Debarkment was a nightmare. There were girls like Nadhari, who, though she was well aware that they were only going to be gone for two days, seemed like she'd packed her whole room in six oversized bags. None of the handmaids had been brought (much to many girls' dismay) meaning that Nadhari had to cart the six bags up to the house herself, and this was just unacceptable.

"Oh, Arrluck, you're a strong man, aren't you?" Katara overheard her croon to the Northerner. Arrluck looked momentarily taken-aback to be spoken to by such a pretty lady.

"I, uhm, well-"

"Nice try," Hahn said, steering him away. "But Arrluck wouldn't be carrying your things. He's above you, don't you know? The only person worthy is Azula...speaking of which-" Hahn then tried to flag down Azula to ask if she needed help with bags, looking not dissimilar to a pelican-mouse in mid flight.

This was, of course, just a handful of the interactions all happening at once on a very small dock. Katara wouldn't have been surprised if someone took an early and unexpected dip into the ocean.

Katara had brought one very manageable bag, thank you very much. And, if it had been bigger, Katara could have carried it with ease.

"Feel better?" she asked Toph.

"No, I'm on a dock. This is worse," Toph snapped back, clutching Katara's arm for dear life. She sniffed the air, "Ugg, who're the corpses?"

Katara shushed her, turning to see a pair of very old ladies walking up the gangway in matching outfits. Outfits that, perhaps on a twenty-year-old may have been appealing, but were just wrong-looking on them.

"Welcome to Ember Island, kids," the pair said in unison, catching most people's attention.

Zuko strode forward, bowing respectfully to them as they bowed low. "Li and Lo, thank you so much for allowing us to use some of your many properties on the island for our use."

"Anything for the Fire Family," one of them said. Katara couldn't tell who was who. She supposed it didn't matter.

"The ladies in the choice, along with the guards and their minder, will be at one of the inns. The Prince and Princess - as well as the other distinguished guests -" The left one looked at Sokka, Kuzon, and the Northerners. "Will be staying at our personal home."

"How very gracious," Azula said dryly.

"Hear that? I'm distinguished," Sokka whispered to Katara.

"Yippie for you," Toph snapped. "Can we go? I'm really hating being blind. Like legit blind. Koh, how do actual blind people live ever?"

They were already being herded off in separate directions. Sokka gave Katara a salute and stuck his tongue out before throwing his arm around Aang as they were pointed in a different direction.

Katara thought that the ladies were getting the better end of the deal. Li and Lo's house, while perfectly fine for two people, was less ostentatious looking. The hotel they were being guided to, on the other hand, was white and shining like polished stone. It reflected so much that it almost appeared to be glowing. It was the definition of Fire Nation opulence.

The girls were assigned to pairs, which went over with Nadhari about as well as Katara predicted.

"Oh, rooming with another girl, the horror," even Jin snapped uncharacteristically. Katara took some strange pleasure in knowing that Nahari ruffled the feathers of such a sweet girl as that.

Katara was put up with Yue; not a big deal. She would have prefered Toph or Alcina or Suki, but it wasn't the worst match-up.

"Get your suits on, we'll be going down to the beach promptly," Zhi said. Probably best to set them loose as soon as possible, Katara thought. An hour into the trip and Zhi already looked far too pleased to be 'rid' of them.

XXxxXX

"It smells like old lady in here," Sokka side-whispered to Aang.

"You're surprised?" Azula asked, running a finger along the cabinet, frowning as a thin layer of dirt came back on her finger.

Aang frowned, wishing he could have gotten out of this. Beach = swimsuits. Swimsuits = showing skin. That equaled bad since Aang had some specific tattos he'd rather no one see. But alas, it hadn't worked. Aang nearly went as far to wish for another assignment with Zhao, but that was really wrong, and he quickly corrected his thoughts.

"This is...uhm, quaint," Arrluck said, wincing, forcing a smile and Li and Lo.

"It's been in our house for nearly 100 years," they said in unison, just as creepy as when they'd done it the first time.

The group of teens began to wander around the living room half-heartedly, waiting to be assigned.

"Look at those two babes," Hahn said, grasping Arrluck around his neck, pulling the scrawnier man next to him. Aang turned to see Hahn pointing at a portrait of two identical young girls, back to back in skimpy swimsuits.

"They've gotta be these two crone's granddaughter's, or one of them, eh? Think they'd be interested in the two future rulers of the Northern Water Tribe? Maybe a foursome, hmm?"

"I don't-I'm not-" Arrluck flushed bright red, unable to reply.

"Fine, I'll take a threesome, better for me," Hahn said, flicking his tongue out and licking his lips lavisciously. Aang shuddered.

Li and Lo noticed Hahn staring at the portrait.

"Who are these two lovely ladies?" Hahn asked with an arrogant grin. "I'd love to meet them."

"You can't tell?" Li asked.

"You already have!" Lo added. At Hahn's blank, confused face, the pair of older women turned and mimicked the picture perfectly.

"Can't you see the resemblance?" they asked together.

Understanding dawned over the group. Next to Aang, Sokka visibly shuddered. Zuko groaned, dragging his hand over his face. Arrluck turned even brighter red, if possible. Hahn turned an acute shade of green.

 _Those two are still kicking? Great spirits_ , Roku commented, now that Aang had turned attention enough on the pair to really look at them. Aang held back a sound of surprise. Somehow it didn't shock him these two had been around at Roku's era.

 _Logically speaking, they're probably not too much older than you, Aang. Maybe only by ten or so years,_  Kyoshi threw out, ever making connections. Aang's eyes widened.

 _Imagine if you'd come out of the ice looking like that…_  Gopan stuttered.

It really just weirded Aang out to think that he was actually, literally, the same age as these two. Or close. It was a reality he didn't enjoy thinking too hard about, that he was 116.

Lo and Li turned to Zuko to discuss rooming arrangements, and Hahn promptly threw up in a very expensive and ancient looking vase.

Azula let out a bark of laughter. She wiped a tear away from her inner eye.

"Oh, wow. You've made me laugh, Hahn. Consider yourself lucky. If Yue does end up winning, and Arrluck takes over the North, we could always keep you around in the palace as a court jester," she added cruely.

With Li and Lo's back still turned, Hahn grabbed a bottle of what looked like expensive alcohol off the counter, chugging it to get the taste out. He was immediately spitting, gagging.

"Perfume," he managed to get out with a strangled sound in the back of his throat. "Fuc-" He threw up once again, this time in an already sad-looking fern.

Azula was cracking up. Aang didn't think he'd ever seen her truly laugh and he'd come to a decision. He hated it.

"Oh, my, I might just have to undermine your ascendance to keep you around," she said, composing herself.

"Let's just get into the rooms," Zuko muttered, waving the group on.

It was set up that Zuko and Aang were in one room, the Watertribe men in another, and Azula in a third. Sokka desperately tried to move to Aang's room, but no luck.

They were showed the first room; the Water tribe one. It was vividly decorated in seashells, ugly pinks and greens, and overall just a lack of interior design. It looked like Toph had decorated it.

"It's quaint," Arrluck repeated, voice shaking.

Azula turned to look at him.

"Are you just a simpleton that lacks the vocabulary for anything else, or...actually, there is no 'or'," she said, shoving through the boys to go to her room.

"It looks like the beach threw up," Sokka groaned.

"I'm going to get dressed for the beach," Zuko said in an authoritative tone. "The ladies will meet us down there." He said his next words through gritted teeth like it was almost painful. "We're all going to have a good time this weekend, okay?"

Aang followed Zuko to their shared room.

"That really wasn't convincing."

Zuko purposely ignored him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yay! A fun little adventure for the girls, even if it's not within what Zuko thought this plan was going to be, but it will be a jolly good time for us!
> 
> *This is obviously based around the episode in s3 'The Beach', though this won't be an exact mimic. 'Course, you'll see
> 
> *Awkward Zuko being sucky at small-talk and giving presetations is one of my favorite Zukos. For as suave as some people think he is, in truth, he's rather helpless
> 
> *I might draw small comics to the guesses that Alcina, Katara, and Suki gave. What do you think?
> 
> *Lastly, if you follow me on my tumblr (youngbloodlex22) I have finally gotten my shit together on there and made a masterpost of everything relating to this series!
> 
> Remember to review!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT WAS 80 HERE TODAY! HAPPY SUMMER MY PEEPS!
> 
> Thank you, as always, sincerely, to those that continue to review. Y'alls are the true MVPs.
> 
> My beta has dubbed this story the 'funniest chapter yet', so I hope you all enjoy it!

Once in her room, Katara set her bag on her bed. She went to the bathroom, and when she came back out, Yue was carefully folding her clothes into a chest on the left side and hanging some dresses. Katara was glad for the cue; chances are, she'd have just left it all crammed in her basket had she not seen Yue unpacking.

As it was, it took far less time for Katara to organize her things (and re-organize them, frankly) than it did Yue. She, besides Toph, had probably packed the least extensively. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps she should have brought more.

"Yue, we're here for two days. You have four dresses hanging up." Katara frowned, peeking inside the cabinet. She knew there were even more clothes in the drawers, and to be honest, she was worried she'd misheard Zuko. Maybe they were supposed to be here for a week and two days, not just two singular days.

"Oh, I know," Yue sighed, sitting back. "But I couldn't decide what I might want to wear. And Prince Zuko was a little...vague." She frowned. It was perhaps the meanest thing she'd ever said. "Which is fine, I like surprises," she amended swiftly. "But I don't know what to expect."

"Beaching, probably," Katara said, shrugging.

"Yes, we should get changed," Yue said, perking up, opening a small drawer. Katara simply shucked off her dress, but left on the wrappings that were underneath her three layers. She took care to slip her beads out of her hair, pulling all of it into a bun on her head.

Yue vanished into the bathroom.

"Are you nearly ready?" Yue asked when she returned out.

"Uhm, I'm ready now."

Yue blinked at Katara, as though she didn't understand.

"Princess Katara, you're in your underclothes," she said slowly.

"Yes?"

"I just," Yue cut herself off, studying Katara, "Did you forget your swimsuit?" she asked in a near pitying tone.

"What do you mean?" Katara frowned, crossing her arms, feeling embarrassed but she did not know why. "This is my swim outfit."

Yue frowned, pressing her hand over her lips. "Princess Katara, you can't wear your undergarments in front of the Prince and the other ladies!" She sounded scandalized. "It wouldn't be...it wouldn't be right."

"Well, I mean, I usually take this piece here off when I sleep." Katara tugged on a knotted end of the fabric. Yue was still staring at Katara like she had just announced she was marrying Ozai.

"What do you wear when you go in the water?" Yue asked in a different way.

"We don't," Katara said flatly. Until recently, she hadn't even been aware that people went in the water for pleasure, at least not prolonged amounts of time in the water. Swimming in the South was basically suicidal. The most people ever did - and it was idiots like her brother - was dare each other to dive into the ocean and then  _get out very quickly_. They warmed water for bathing, but that was done in the nude, and Katara had never lingered in the bath, knowing others needed it and it was a process to re-warm the water. The closest approximation they had were the sweat huts, but people just wore...well, what Yue was calling undergarments. There really wasn't room to be shy about one's body. Besides, the huts were always separated by gender.

So truly, the concept of swimming for pleasure and having a separate outfit just for this seemed really wacky to Katara.

"But surely…" Yue was very much struggling. "We have hot steam pools in the North, like spas. Don't you have that?"

Katara gave a firm shake of her head. It would be so much firewood wasted to be continually warming a pool of water for someone to just splash around in. She was starting to feel like the Katara that had first arrived: savage, stupid, and unaware of the way the world worked. Maybe Yue saw the way her lip trembled, despite Katara telling herself she wasn't going to cry over this. She knew Yue wasn't trying to make her feel bad, but well…

"I have extras. I brought four suits," Yue whispered. "You can have one of them," she said, rushing over to the drawers, holding up different variations of what she was wearing.

"Thank you," Katara breathed out. "I'll have Aiga clean them and-"

"You can just have one, Katara. I have plenty," Yue insisted. Katara didn't like taking things like she was some poor little untaught Southerner.

"Until Aiga makes my own," Katara said. Yue offered her up a warm smile.

"Well yes, of course," she said, realizing that this was the only way Katara would take it.

It was in two pieces, and made of weird stretchy fabric. Katara had never touched anything like it.

"And this is just for when you go in the water?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, or beaches, like today," Yue said. "It's new in the North too. My father's generation was the first to hear about these," she admitted after a second.

The garment was made in Water Tribe colors, small miracles, since Katara recognized the stitch work as culturally Fire Nation. It was just a band on the top with a small skirt on the bottom. Yue's was very covered; one piece in all, except for the big 'v' down the front of it.

"Seems, uh, like it's missing some parts," Katara said blankly.

"It's the style. You'll see other girls wearing far less. I'm not a fan." Yue scrunched up her nose.

"I'll just change then," Katara grumbled, closing herself into the bathroom. The suit seemed to fit her well, but she felt really...strange in it. But, if this is what she was supposed to wear...well, Katara trusted Yue.

Yue handed off a lightweight kimono, motioning for Katara to put it over her shoulders. Katara shrugged, taking all her cues from the Northern girl at this point.

"I have a bag of things for us," Yue announced, patting a woven tote that was under her arm. "A pair of towels for the beach, some water skins in case we feel dehydrated, and wide hats to protect our faces from the sun. We probably need it less than others, but it's good to avoid sunburn."

Katara wouldn't have thought of any of that, despite being told by Sokka continuously she was the 'mom friend'.

"Thank you," Katara said, and she meant it.

Down in the lobby, most of the group had already gathered. Zhi was counting heads as they came down the stairs, using her handy clipboard and ink pen, which Katara thought might be glued to her hands.

They were some of the last pairs, which was fine. The absolute last to arrive down were On Ji and Ratana, who were slowed down because the pair was lugging a huge parasol down the stairs.

"I have very sensitive skin," On Ji said to Zhi, who just ticked off their names.

Most of the girls were covered in lightweight kimonos or blankets and scarves, as Katara and Yue were, so at this point, Katara couldn't see their entire outfits. Most of the girls were carrying totes as bit as Yue's, if not bigger. Katara wondered what they possibly could be bringing down to the beach?

"Before we head down, girls, I just have a few things to remind you all of," Zhi started, but was easily drowned out by the chatter of excited girls. "We won't go down until you all quiet," she said, raising her voice above the noise. Quickly, a hush grew over the crowd. Toph, next to Katara, opened her mouth like she was going to be loud, and Katara sharply jabbed her side. Toph pouted, like Katara had just rained on her parade.

"This is a very popular beach for young people all around your age. I am sure there will many handsome and strapping men on the beach. On one hand, I must remind you that while you are a contestant in this competition, you are the property of the Fire Lord." Katara remembered that rule and winced. It really, still, rubbed her all the wrong ways. "And thusly it is considered treason to be with any other men romantically and," Zhi inhaled, "Sexually." Katara looked around; pretty much all the girls would give their left leg to be with Zuko, she doubted anyone was going to ruin their chances by cavorting with a guy. "However, many of the young men around on the beach this weekend are the children of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom officers and loyalists, very prestigious pedigrees. It would not be completely unwise to befriend them. Often, it is tradition that Prince Zuko will help secure worthy betrothals and marriages for the top ten girls, and I'm sure if you had a preference, he would one day not be opposed to hearing so. Keep both of these things in mind, ladies!" Zhi finished cheerfully.

"I'm so confused," Alcina murmured to no one in particular. "Does she want us to be friendly toward the guys here or not?"

"Yes and no," Suki said. "I think she's saying that we should find our second choice, but not to cross the line anywhere." She snorted.

"Think guys here really want a near-princess?" Alcina said.

"I think they want girls with boobs and father-in-laws with money and power," Toph said bluntly, "Which means that girls like Ty Lee should pretty much be getting marriage offers by the end of the night!"

Ty Lee, who luckily didn't overhear, did fit that criteria.

"Toph!" Katara said, shaking her head.

"You're not too bad yourself," Alcina said with glimmering eyes. Katara often forgot she was a true Fire Nationer, but when she was smirking at Toph, she had a little bit of Azula in her. "Well-proportioned and a palace to your name," she said, motioning to Toph. "Plus, the rest of you is dainty. I'm surprised you're not swimming in suitors."

"If they try to touch these," Toph said, motioning to her chest, "I'll break their goddamn arms. I keep forgetting I have these. I was flat-chested up until a year ago, looked sort of like a boy. Wish I would have stayed that way," she pouted.

"I really doubt that any girl ever bemoaned the fact her woman figure arrived," Suki said.

"Ugg, don't call me that. A girl. Yuck." Toph shook her head.

"But you are."

"Unfortunately," Toph said. "I rarely like to be reminded."

The walk down to the beach was quick. It was right near the hotel, and already swimming with people roughly their age, just as Zhi had foretold. And, yes, a lot were men. Men that Katara could understand some girls would find attractive, but they all just reminded of Hahn. She knew she shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but honestly, none of these men seemed like boyfriend material. That is, if Katara wanted a boyfriend...besides Zuko, who was sorta her boyfriend. In the way that he was everyone's boyfriend right now.

She did not.

"Where is Prince Zuko?" Avizeh asked Zhi, turning around in a full circle.

"The prince and the others will come down shortly. Right now, I think you should set up. There seems to be some open space over there. If anyone needs me, I will be at the hotel bar.

The girls, now alone, all stayed in a close pack for just a second, shuffling over to the pointed spot. There was a pause, as though everyone was unsure how to proceed, before Suki unfurled her towel, laying it down.

Immediately, everyone else jumped to work.

More than one person had brought an umbrella, but On Ji's was the largest. Katara watched Yue jump into action, trying to encourage the umbrellas be spread evenly, so that everyone had a little bit of shade.

"Always the peacemaker," Azula said, seemingly arriving from nowhere, causing Katara to jump out of her skin.

"Where's Prince Zuko?" Ty Lee asked, frowning.

"Agni, like I care. Doing something stupid, I'm sure. Work." Azula rolled her eyes. She put her hand on her hip, scanning the area. "Now, who can I get to set my things up?"

"I can, Princess," Hahn jumped to offer.

"Oh, well, if you insist," Azula said, hardly needing much to be swayed. Aang, who had lingered for a second, turned. "Where are you going, Kuzon?"

"I have some things that Zhao asked me to do," Aang said carefully. However, Katara expected he was looking for an excuse not to take off his clothes.

"Oh, come on, it's not like he'll know," Azula said, grabbing his shirt. "I don't know if I've ever seen you have fun. You sully the Fire Nation Family history with your stuffiness."

"Cousin," Aang said through gritted teeth, indicating to Katara how frustrated he was. He didn't often like reminding Azula of their kinship, specifically because it was fabricated. "You want to tell Zhao when I come home empty handed why it was so?"

Azula made a sound in the back of her throat, releasing Aang. "Yuck, fine. But you will have fun this weekend," she said firmly, pressing his chest.

Aang rolled his eyes. "Fine."

He caught Katara's eyes, rolling out his shoulders. That whole encounter had obviously ruffled him. He then looked to Ty Lee, his face staying exactly the same, which also told Katara how hard he was trying not to smile her way.

He turned away to leave.

Ty Lee gave a halfway sad smile, but shrugged it off as she pulled her lightweight dress over her shoulders. Katara immediately understood what Yue had been talking about when it concerned swimsuits. It looked like she was just wearing three small scraps of fabric. Katara was glad Aang was turned around; surely, he'd be bright scarlet if he saw her.

The boys that had been lingering, watching the large convoy of mostly girls settle up, immediately swarmed Ty Lee.

"You need help unpacking?" one asked, making heart-eyes toward Ty Lee.

Ty Lee frowned. "I think I can manage."

"A girl as beautiful as you shouldn't have to lift a finger," the boy continued, reaching for her bag.

Aang paused, turning back. Katara closed her eyes.

 _Don't, Aang, don't_ , she silently prayed,  _don't show your hand and give Azula something over you, over us._

After a very prolonged moment, Katara watched his fist unclench. He inhaled sharply, angrily, turning away. Thank spirits.

"Don't be rude, Ty Lee," Azula said. "Let them help you."

Ty Lee frowned at the group of boys, clearly unsure. She stuttered a little bit, her eyes sliding to the left, not exactly toward Aang, but close enough. She clutched her bag to her body. Azula hadn't given the words as a playful encouragement, she'd demanded it of Ty Lee.

"We got it," Katara said firmly, coming over to Ty Lee. "Imagine that boys, we're both beautiful  _and_  smart enough to put an umbrella in the sand," she said sarcastically.

"Oh, hello," a boy purred, eyes switching to Katara. "You're not like the other girls, huh. Little bit of that exotic beauty."

Katara wanted to barf. "Not interested," she said, rolling her eyes. "Really, shoo. I think some of those girls would be elated to have your help." She pointed to where Nadhari and Avizeh were milling.

Once they left, Azula shook her head.

"They were just being nice."

"Oh, sure." Katara let out a bark of laughter. "And they didn't totally want something in return. A kiss, at the very least." She began to help Ty Lee dig the umbrella into the sand and flatten her towel. "Just bad news."

"You have such experience?" Azula asked suspiciously, a devious grin appearing slowly.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Katara asked, tired of her games. "To smear my name and tell Prince Zuko I'm impure or whatever bullshit. No, I just have an idiot brother. You do too."

"I sincerely doubt you should be calling the Prince "stupid," Katara," Azula said, as though personally offended.

"I'm sure you've called him worse." Katara knew she had. "And not that he's an idiot. Just that he's a boy. And boys think with their…" She raised her eyebrows, motioning downward.

Azula broke a smile. Whether it was genuine or not, Katara didn't know.

"Well, that's just common knowledge," Azula said.

"Look, if you were so concerned about my virtue, obviously you should be concerned about Ty Lee's as well. You can't be naive enough to think that they were honestly flattered by personality - no offense, Ty."

"Oh, I know it all," Ty Lee assured, "Not offended."

"Whatever." Azula pinched the bridge of her nose. "You don't seem like the type of girl who wants to sit around making childish sandcastles. Do you want to play a round of kuai ball?" She motioned to the set-up net.

"You want to play with me?" Katara guffawed.

"I want winners. Fighters. As much as I hate you,"

"Gee, you're really making me want to play a game with you."

"-You are both of those things, irritatingly. I pick the best for my squad," Azula said. "Ty Lee, you're playing. Mai...if Zuko ever arrives, he'd be a good addition. If not…" Azula scanned the girls gathered. "Suki. One more...Katara, do you think you could convince that dwarf of yours to play?"

Katara stared at Azula, uncomprehending. "You mean...Toph? Not if you call her that."

"Fine, the short angry one. Better?"

"Maybe. Let me ask her. You go claim the next game. Spirits," Katara grumped. Why was she even agreeing to this? Maybe the idea of seeing Azula act like somewhat of a normal teenager was too tempting to pass up.

She shook it off, sharing glances with Ty Lee.

"Thanks," Ty Lee said quietly.

"Don't mention it. Truly. I have your back," Katara said honestly, and then turned to find Suki and Toph. "Yo! Toph! How do you feel about being a winner?"

XXxxXX

Zuko walked down to the beach. He could not pretend to have pressing work to do any longer, and his absence would soon cause a hoard of girls to come looking for him. He'd stayed in his room at Lo and Li's house as long as he possibly could, but alas, it was time to hit the beach.

If his plans had gone like he'd hoped, he would have enjoyed coming down here with just two or three select girls. To try to spend equal time with all of them? Spirits, it seemed like an easier task to figure out the whole situation with the Airbenders!

Sokka had stayed with Zuko, while the rest had gone down about an hour ago. Aang had popped back in to say he was going into town and would reconvene with Zuko before nightfall. He'd mentioned that Azula had seemingly been in good, playful spirits...and this deeply concerned him.

If Aang hadn't passed that along, Zuko might have convinced himself to stay hidden for another half an hour. But he didn't trust his sister.

It was a little silly, huh? Hiding from girls like they were rabid moose-bears or something, and not teenage ladies.

He'd admitted to Sokka as much why he hung back.

"Yeah, let me just say that I feel for you, bro."

"All the girls in the South want you, I take it?" Zuko asked, trying to resist adding in an eyeroll.

"I don't like that tone. I'm the son of a chief, and look at these!" Sokka flexed his arm proudly. "Plus, not a lot of options, if I'm being honest. I mean, I guess it's nice to know that I won the popularity contest against the boy that licks icicles or the boy that lost three toes because taking his boot off to put socks on was too much of a hassle."

"Has your dad started mentioning marriage?"

"Not as aggressively as putting together a competition to pick a wife." Sokka laughed dryly. "But I'm 20. My dad had picked my mom out when they were ten and married when they were sixteen. So yes."

"Does he want you to pick a Southern wife?" Zuko asked, genuinely curious, and noticed the wince that Sokka tried to stifle. "Do  _you_  want a Southern wife?"

"I…" Sokka suddenly lost his voice. "I guess...well, you have to imagine if that's the boys for husband choices, there's not a ton of girls either." He tried to play it off with laughter, but there was a raw, pained sound. "Okay, we need something for this conversation."

Zuko was at first confused about what that 'something' was, until Sokka vanished into the kitchen. He could hear him asking Lo and Li something, and a moment later, he returned with two jars.

"To take with us to the beach. Very slowly," he offered, handing Zuko the glass. Once in his hand, Sokka clinked his glass against Zuko's. Zuko sipped it. Sake.

"I think he'd prefer a Southern wife, since she'll be part of the council for our tribe. He's had a lot of reasons to be untrusting." Sokka pointed out as they gathered their towels for the beach. Zuko latched the door behind them.

"Does he...does your dad wish the same of Katara?"

Sokka took a big gulp of his glass. "That's where this is going."

"Where what's going?" Zuko asked defensively.

"You're asking if my father would approve of  _you_ ," Sokka replied back with a smirk. "And to be honest? Well, I don't know. My dad has always been super protective about Katara. She's his baby girl, you know? And she's always been his favorite. Not that my dad doesn't love me, but there's something between them I never had. I think…" Sokka chewed on his lip. "He'd want her to feel safe, wherever she ends up. I think he'd want a relationship where Katara is in charge. Spirits knows it wouldn't work the other way around," Sokka laughed. "And while I could vouch for you, Zuko, you're a prince. I don't know if Katara would ever be in charge."

"I take it she hasn't told you about the first time we met, huh?" Zuko said before he could think about it.

Sokka snapped his head toward him. "No."

"Erm, never mind." Zuko drank deeply.

"You're blushing! Now you have to tell me, bud," Sokka encouraged, "C'mon!"

"Okay, fine," Zuko snapped, only because he knew Katara would gleefully tell Sokka if he did not. "She mistook me for a burglar. That's too much to get into, but she knocked me off a roof and tied me to a tree. And then the first time I tried to kiss her, she broke my nose," Zuko added.

Sokka snorted so hard that the sake came up his nose. "You're joking! Oh, well, that does sound like her."

"I don't think I'd lie about something so...horrifyingly embarrassing." Zuko replied stiffly, but when Sokka threw his arm around him, he felt a little bit better about it.

"Well, I feel a lot better about you liking Katara knowing that she can just break a bone whenever she feels like it," Sokka said honestly. "She's a force."

"I don't like recalling those times," Zuko mumbled.

"Everyone has an embarrassing story with a girlfriend," Sokka assured. At Zuko's dubious face, he sipped the glass. "Okay, okay. Take me. First time a girl went down on me, my dad walked in on us. I guess we don't really have doors, so maybe I was asking for it but," Sokka shrugged. "At the time? I thought I was going to die of embarrassment."

"That happened?" Zuko said. "And you're just...telling me?" he added, a bit more unsure.

"Well, yeah," Sokka shot him a weird look. "We're bros, right?"

"I just...I guess I haven't had a friend like you before," Zuko said honestly.

"Obnoxious and different?" Sokka punched his arm playfully. "Someone who forces sake on you?"

"Someone not looking at me as a way to climb the social ladder," Zuko said bluntly.

"Oh. Yeah, I don't give two shits about that," Sokka said as they approached the beach. "Gee, I wonder where the contestants are," he said.

Zuko shielded his eyes with his hand. There was a large group of girls...and a larger group of boys milling near them. He chuckled.

"We're not inconspicuous. However, I don't think I see Katara…"

"Oh! There she is! Playing some game or something with your sister."

"Har-har," Zuko shoved him playfully.

"No, seriously," Sokka dragged him to the right, the opposite direction. Indeed, as they approached a kuai ball field, Zuko realized that Katara was one of the competitors...along with his sister.

"Oh." Zuko blinked.

"Ah, look at that, Suki...Ty Lee...Toph...Mai's playing too," Sokka said, a tinge pink. Zuko raised an eyebrow. This seemed like a worst nightmare; his sister playing a sports game with all the top choices for his hand in marriage.

As they got close enough to see individual figures, Zuko was caught off guard by how little Katara was wearing. He'd seen girls in swimsuits, but seeing Katara in a swimsuit?

They approached just as the game was ending; clearly in the favor of his sister and Katara's team. In fact, he and Sokka had come just in time to see Katara serve Azula a perfect airborne ball, just for his sister to strike it ruthlessly onto the other team's side. They attempted to block it, but it went careening down into the sand.

"Victorious!" Azula crowed, holding up her hand. To Zuko's surprise, she allowed Katara to high-five her. What sort of alternate world had they entered? Was he dreaming?

"That's hot," Sokka said simply, sipping at his drink. Zuko really didn't want to ask to whom he was referring to.

"Oh, Zuzu, nice of you to  _finally_  join us," Azula said, catching her brother's eye. "We've already played two rounds of kuai ball. I would have asked you to join, but I think that this girls team is more ferocious than you could be."

"Uhm, thanks?" Zuko tilted his head.

"Whatever. Mai, you thirsty? I'm getting a drink. Ty Lee, you too." She snapped her fingers. Mai joined her without a beat, but Ty Lee hesitated. Less than a year ago, Ty Lee wouldn't have thought twice, Zuko considered. Now, she hung back, just for a beat, before following.

Suki and Toph were shaking hands with the other team, chatting them up casually.

"You were playing a game with my sister?" Zuko asked, raising an eyebrow as Katara came over to them. She looked at the two glasses in the boys' hands before taking Zuko's and taking a drink of it.

"You know, she's actually being nice. As nice as she can be, that is," Katara snorted. "She's very...strategic. She noticed that one of the girls had a limp on her left, and we served there. It was all very military, but we won. I mean, there were times I was a little scared for their lives, like when your sister said 'We defeated you for all time. You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation', but you know, other than that…"

"Oh, that." Zuko rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's how Azula expresses she's having fun."

"Mhh." Katara sipped more of the glass. "Well, we did win, and that's Azula's favorite activity."

"Kuai ball?" Sokka asked.

"Winning," Katara corrected.

"Hey, so," Zuko said, taking his glass back, "Look, I should probably spend the day hanging out with the other girls...I don't want you to feel…"

"Offended?" Katara tilted her head. "It's fine. Seriously. Go and make some girls giggle. Azula told me I didn't seem like the type who wanted to build sandcastles, but joke's on her, because Toph and I are going to make the most epic sandcastle. We still have tomorrow." She shoved his chest goodnaturedly, "Seriously. I'm fine. Sokka, you wanna help?"

"I mean," Sokka puffed out his chest, "I did make that guard tower out of snow, and how different is snow and wet sand?"

"Yes," Katara replied deadpanned. "Exactly. C'mon!" She tugged him to where Toph was stomping down a good flat area with her feet.

Zuko looked back at the gaggle of girls. Sighing, and wishing he could spend the whole day with Katara, he undid his robes. As he tucked his robe into his arms, showing off his chest, he heard a great many girls - and not just the ones in the competition - give a sigh.

He turned back and caught Katara looking, if even for a second.

Turning back, smirking, he felt a lot better as he walked over to the rest of the girls.

XXxxXX

The rest of the day lazed by beautifully. By the time the group started walking back to the hotel, Katara considered it a very full and fun day. She hardly saw Zuko, apart from the moments she saw him switching between girls. It sort of seemed like he was just going along with the day. Anything that they asked him to do, he agreed...within reason. It was the easiest way to please everyone, but it had to be taking a toll on Zuko. She truly felt for him.

She, Toph, and Sokka were making good work on their sandcastle, which was quickly sprawling into a sand fortress. Toph was practicing ways to just make the sand do what she wanted, but if there was a lot of water in the sand, it became difficult for her. So, it was more that Sokka and Katara and Toph were making warring cities. Toph, trying to create models of her hometown, had encouraged Sokka and Katara to make a sand version of the Southern Water Tribe. Katara hoped it would still be up the next morning.

Most girls were so exhausted from the long day in the sun that after dinner, they just went to bed without fuss. Katara herself, her skin warm and face sore from smiling, fell into bed without complaint.

XXxxXX

Where Katara was sleeping soundly at night, Zuko was up whispering with Aang, who had only arrived back at the house an hour ago.

"There aren't any airbenders around here," Aang reported back. "This town is full of Ozai sympathizers. If there were any, they wouldn't be caught dead."

"Yeah, I worried about that," Zuko whispered back. He was careful to keep their voices scarcely above a whisper.

"Plus, it's all riches here. People aren't desperate, aren't without means to get out," Aang continued.

"Anyone that may help us?"

Aang furrowed his brow.

"There's a lady...when I brought up airbenders, her face flashed, just for a second. I bet she had a relative that was one, and they got out. She seemed worried for them. She might be willing to help people through the area." Aang sighed. "But she might be the only one on the whole island."

Zuko nodded to himself. "Work on her tomorrow, as much as you can. We don't want to leave it hanging before we go back."

Aang paused. He seemed unsure. "You, ah, you said your family has a place on the island that you never use. Do you think-"

"No," Zuko replied flatly.

"But…"

"It's out of the question, Kuzon," Zuko hissed. "Besides, it's just full of empty memories anyway."

He rolled over.

"Zuko, I-"

"Just go to sleep," Zuko said without turning. "The whole weekend is giving me stress. Don't give me anymore."

XXxxXX

Their second day on the island was to be much of the same, as Katara was told. The girls had a painfully long breakfast. By the time they were gathered with their things to go down to the beach, it seemed that half the day had already been wasted.

Not that Katara had anything she particularly needed to do, but the general slowness of the girls bothered her. She could tell it bothered a few others, such as Suki and surprisingly, Nadhari. Girls like Avizeh took their dear sweet time with everything. It was almost painful.

This time, the group from the other house met up with them to walk down, still sans Aang.

Katara saw a flash of disappointment on Ty Lee's face. When Katara patted her arm in understanding, Ty Lee shrugged.

"It's for the best," she said, but her smile didn't quite fill her face.

Down at the beach, most of their sand castle creations were still standing. There was a group of young children gathered around Toph's, staring in amazement at the intricate details.

"Did you make this?" one little girl asked Toph.

"Yep, what's it to you?" Toph said, tying back her long hair into a high bun.

"It's incredible! How did you do it?" she breathed.

Toph blinked. "Earthbending," she said after a long moment. The little girl squealed.

"I'm an earthbender too! Show me, show me!" Katara entirely expected Toph to brush off the young girl, but to her surprise, Toph just grinned, cracking her knuckles.

"You won't ever find a better teacher," she insisted. Then, Katara worried she'd be harsh on the girl, until she saw Toph helping her build her own tiny towns. Not with a whole lot of love, but not meanly. Toph wasn't a jerk enough to hurt an eight year old's feelings, at least.

"Hey!" Sokka choked out. Katara turned to see a boy with a toy Fire Nation Navy fleet ship shoving it through the sand, like it was the sea, into the guard tower closest to the water. Sokka's muddy guard dower flopped and fell.

"Aha! Attack of the Fire Nation! Pew pew!" the boy cried.

"It's a sand castle, we can rebuild," Katara said, waving to the boy who gave a floppy, but friendly, wave back.

"But that took me all day," Sokka groaned. Katara watched him go over to try to convince the boy to stop attacking their sand city. He became momentarily distracted watching Toph with the young girl, a weird look in his face that Katara couldn't quite place.

"Can I help you?" Suki asked, tapping Katara's shoulder. "Looks like fun."

"Yeah, we're just making the South here," Katara said. "Here's my house," she added, pointing to a pile of sand she hadn't yet shaped.

"Just tell me how to help."

XXxxXX

"I should get going," Zuko said, trying to sound apologetic as he nudged Saoirse.

"C'mon, can't you stay longer?" Saoirse pouted, crossing her arms.

"It wouldn't be fair to the other girls," Zuko said, pausing before wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I won't tell anyone if you don't," Saoirse smirked, tilting her head. Zuko laughed.

"If you don't think a girl wouldn't notice I spent an hour longer with you than anyone else, you clearly haven't been paying attention."

Saoirse shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "I just always want to spend more time with you than I have," she pouted quietly.

Zuko swallowed nodding. "I know the feeling," he said. He did feel bad at the way that Saoirse instantly brightened, maybe thinking he was referring to her, but in reality, he was thinking of Katara.

It wasn't fair to Saoirse; she was a very nice girl. She'd take him on a walk down the beach, away from the group, and they'd picked up interesting seashells along the way. It had been fun, it had been enjoyable, and Zuko had forgotten how much he liked talking to her.

"Are we going to get another date soon? You know, more than just this?" Saoirse questioned, motioning to the beach.

"Of course. Things are settling down after the attacks and soon I'll be doing dates regularly again."

Saoirse pursed her lips. "I can't wait."

Zuko offered back a slight smile in return. He turned them back to the main beach, finishing their hour and a half together with a kiss to her forehead, which seemed to please the Northern Water Tribe girl enough.

As soon as Saoirse was waving to Zuko, returning to find Kilee with her palms full of brightly colored shells, Zuko was scanning the beach for Katara.

He found her exactly where she'd begun the morning; at the sand castles.

"Hey, Kat, Sokka," Zuko nodded to the pair of siblings. "Toph."

"Oh, Zuko," Toph teased in a sing-songy voice. "Are you here for our date?"

Zuko groaned. "Do you want one?"

"Naw. I'm just messin' with ya." Toph came up, slapping his arm. "Don't look so depressed at the thought though!"

"I wasn't depressed, I was-"

"You can't hide from me, remember. I know when you're lying," Toph teased. "Besides, I still have more to work on here."

"Uh, looks pretty complete to me," Zuko said, eyes widening in surprise at the complexity of her work.

"So you'd think, so you'd think," Toph just replied cryptically, shaking a finger.

Zuko blinked, rolling his eyes. "Katara, so...do you...can we...maybe…"

"Yes," Katara laughed. "Sokka can finish by himself, right?"

Sokka, who was currently precisely measuring twigs to use as flags, startled. "What? Oh, yeah, whatever. I'm busy." He waved them away. "Wait!"

Zuko bit his tongue to groan in frustration as Katara turned back.

"If you find any more of this seaweed - the green stuff, not the brown gooey stuff - bring it back. We need it for the walls. Gotta make my city more impressive than Toph's," he added, sending a narrowed glare her way. Toph sent him back the middle finger, which three young children immediately tried to copy. Zuko groaned and dragged his hand down his face; he was going to be scalped by parents for one of his contestants teaching their children dirty words and phrases before the weekend was up.

"He's lying, we're just doing it for fun," Katara said, bending down to pat a wall back into place.

"That's what you think," Sokka said firmly.

"Right," Zuko said, since there was a clear difference in skill level between the two.

"We'll look our hardest," Katara said, winking to her brother.

Once they were a few feet away, Zuko resisted the urge to twine his fingers in hers. "What do you want to do?"

"Have you been in the water yet? I'm covered in sand and could for sure use a good wash," Katara said, patting off her arms.

"Not further than a few feet. Most of the girls asked me to put lotion on their backs or read with them or find shells," Zuko said.

"Have you been having fun?"

That was Katara, always looking out for him.

"Of course," Zuko said, and he meant that almost-completely honestly.

"We can do something else," Katara said, picking up on that small unsureness in his tone.

"No, that sounds great," he assured, pointing to the sea. Katara grabbed his hand to pull him to the waves. "I should have guessed the  _water_ bender would want to go in the  _water_."

Katara, running her fingers through her soaked hair to shove it back, blinked innocently at him. "Maybe I should be more unpredictable."

"Oh? I'd like to see you try." Zuko said.

Katara shrugged, at first seeming to brush his words off as she led them deeper and deeper into the sea, until they were almost treading water.

"How's this for unpredictable?" she asked. Zuko frowned, not understanding. As he was opening is mouth to ask what about this was something strange, Katara tackled him under the water. Just as he was getting his bearings under the waves, she kissed him. He opened his eye to see her hair floating out behind her like she was a sea goddess, tiny bubbles escaping her lips as she laughed.

Zuko dove back up for air.

"I could have drowned," he said, though he wasn't as upset as he pretended to be.

"I wouldn't have let you," Katara said firmly. She flashed him a white smile. "Are you properly wet?"

"Yes, my hair is soaked," he said, pointing to his locks, shaking his head like a dog to try the tips.

"I am too," Katara said.

"Yeah, you dove in right away," Zuko agreed.

"No," Katara said, coming up right next to him. He was just hardly touching the bottom flat-footed, so he was sure Katara was on her tiptoes, and grasping his arms to keep herself steady. "I'm  _soaked_ ,"she breathed in a husky tone.

"You…" Zuko breathed out, but it sounded like a pained wheeze. About a thousand neurons all lit up at once in his brain...and then went right from his brain downward.

Katara used the weightlessness of the water to push herself up far enough to wrap her arms around his neck, kissing his neck, curling a leg around his own legs. She wasn't going to kiss him in public, not on the lips, but even just the hot kiss to his collarbone had him groaning and his hardness straining at his bottoms. Something about her doing this so openly, when she probably definitely wasn't supposed to be doing this, drove him even crazier than if they were alone.

"Katara, you-" Zuko started to protest, hands gripping her arms, until he wondered why he was protesting? This was, actually, sorta great.

"Mhh? What's that?" Katara tilted her head.

Zuko shook away the water in his head. This was bad. As much as he wanted this, it was bad. They shouldn't be doing this right now. They couldn't be doing this now. The rest of the competition was just lounging on the beach, definitely in sight. He let Katara's fingers trace his stomach, hard as he flexed as he tried not to move, until they got a little bit too low.

"Katara, you are not helping," he hissed.

Katara took her hand away. He expected her to be offended. Instead, she looked up at him with slightly confused, liquid eyes. Did she truly not-

She leaned up, kissing him chastely on his neck, before flicking her tongue over his earlobe.

"This is payback for dinner, Zuko," she murmured against his warm skin.

Zuko cussed in his mind. The foot-on-leg thing had been a spur of the moment thought, something he hadn't thought through other than that he'd enjoyed seeing Katara's ears redden. He hadn't thought she'd retaliate, and not so deftly!

Katara stood back, stretching. "Well, I think it's just about time for dinner. We should probably get out of the water, hmm?" she teased.

"You go," Zuko said, gritting his teeth.

"Aren't you coming?" Katara asked, smirking.

"No," he replied shortly, trying to think of all the least sexy things that he'd ever seen, to little help.

Katara flashed him a grin before swimming back. Zuko closed his eyes; if he walked out now, surely, everyone would see his tented pants. Think of Ozai in a bathing suit...think of Lo and Li in bathing suits...think that dead owl-cat he'd poked when he was eight…

"Zuko! Come inside! Dinner's soon!" Sokka called, wading into the water. "And you know me, I'm starved."

"You're always starved," Zuko snapped out. While he could tell Sokka his predicament, and for any other girl who had caused it he would, he wasn't about to admit he'd gotten hard while in the water with his sister.

"Well, hurry it up," Sokka encouraged.

"I just...I want to enjoy the water a little longer." Zuko forced a smile.

"The beach will still be here tomorrow."

"Yes," Zuko breathed out, willing himself to relax, trying not to catch sight of Katara in that swimsuit, knowing she'd still be wearing it the next day. "That might be exactly the issue."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE LANNISTERS PAY THEIR RESPECTS (that's honestly all I could think as I was writing that line about payback for Katara. I've been in a Game of Thrones mood lately, which has seriously hurt my heart. Arg. Urg. Avatar continues to be one of the most satisfying shows ever written, but what else is new?)
> 
> Little Margarita! You have reached a drabble if you so want one :)
> 
> In terms of what's new on the Zutara/ADS front, if ya head over to my tumblr- youngblodlex22- I have uploaded (1) A floorplan of Katara's rooms/the contestant rooms and (2) some aesthetic boards for the original characters. I have previously uploaded Aiga, Alcina, and Dhakiya's before, but I now have added Ratana, Avizeh, Caecillia, and Bahiravi to the mix! I'll be continuing to upload those periodically, so if you want to see what I imagine them to look like, check that out!
> 
> In other, non Avatar news, because I'm still stewing about the finale of Game of Thrones, I've uploaded a GendryxArya fic about 5 scenes that I feel should have been added to the last episode.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple days late...explanation at the bottom...

Aang watched the robe saleswoman from his spot at the cafe with careful scrutinizing attention.

"Sir, your honor, would you like more tea?"

Aang startled, glancing up at the very nervous owner who was offering out more from the tea cup. Aang wordlessly accepted, nodding his thanks. The man left, stumbling over reverent thank-yous, retreating back.

Yesterday, Aang had worn his military uniforms for his recon work. It had been his intention to be invisible, to be forgettable. Fire Nation military were as common as mouseflies here, and even one with light gray eyes was easily forgotten once out of sight. Today, however, he was wearing his family robes. It had been Kyoshi who had pointed out that flaunting his fake ancestors would allow him prestige and encourage people to listen to him.

As it was, as soon as he'd stepped into the tea shop, the owner had been falling over himself to offer Aang any table and tea on the house. He'd taken up a spot out on the patio, in perfect view of the woman of his watch as she sold her robes to passersby.

He'd gathered that she was the owner, but still worked the shop herself. She had scant workers, and it seemed to be mostly tourists who stopped in, the locals avoided her shop tactfully. She was marked by some invisible taboo, something that was known but not talked about at this point in time.

Her figure was lithe, and when she stepped, there was a spring to it. Her shoulders were small. Her eyes, not quite grey, but somewhere between a murky blue and true slate color all indicated to Aang that some of her ancestors had to be airbenders. He doubted she herself was an airbender, but it was somewhere in her family.

He hadn't had proper time to research Ember Island and the census reports. As it was, this town was very changed year to year. It was built up for the tourists, and the actual people who lived here were probably few. It was also a hot spot for all types of high-ranking Fire Nationers. Chances are that someone wouldn't have come here unless you didn't know about your airbending ancestry until it was too late.

When the owner came back over a second time, Aang motioned him down.

"That woman there?" he asked, pointing, "What do you know of her?"

The man poured Aang's green tea, frowning. "Lady Tuan? What does the Royal Family care of her?"

"What do you know of her?" Aang repeated, recalling how Kasata had told him to be aloof and cold, someone imposing.

"She's hardly anyone, m'lord," the man said carefully, "And, if I may...a disgrace to the town."

"Oh?"

"She's vocal, sir," the man said distastefully. "Or, she was. She had a son, you see, and he was always a little off. He vanished a year or two ago. Since then, she's always had opinions, and will tell anyone them. Mostly about the soldiers that come through here...which we are always pleased to have, of course," the man said quickly.

"I take it she doesn't?"

"In more words or less," the man said shortly.

Aang sipped his tea, nodding.

"The Royal Family thanks you for your generosity," he said, dropping a handful of gold coins in the man's hand.

Then, he strode across the walkway.

"Lady Tuan?" Aang said in an even tone, "May I have a word?"

"Lord Kuzon." The woman bowed immediately, as did everyone else in the general vicinity. "I am humbled you would choose to visit this small store, I am-"

"Lady," Aang said, resting a hand on her shoulder, "If there is perhaps somewhere we could talk?"

"Yes, let me just...I will...come in," she said. She was middle-aged, wrinkles creasing her face, hints of silver shining in her dark hair. She brought Aang to the back storeroom, filled with bolts of fabric and thread yarn. She hustled around, clearing off tables.

"Your son. He was an airbender." Aang got right to the point. He saw no other way around it. The woman's back stiffened.

"My liege, you-" she began to scoff, but Aang raised a hand.

"I'm sure others assumed, but no one would be so bold to say. And, he's gone now, so it doesn't matter. You overplayed your hand," Aang said, but it was Kasata's voice in his head telling him the words.

The woman's lip trembled.

Aang pursed his lips as the Avatars warred inside his head.

He needed this woman, the first part of his masterplan, to cooperate with him. Kasata was telling him to blackmail her; threaten that he'd turn her into Zhao if she didn't do as he asked.

 _Aang needs her to agree; that seems counterproductive_ , Yangchen said evenly,  _and the Avatar should not use war tactics!_

 _An airbender, maybe,_  Kasata spit back.  _But we are at war! The ends sometimes justify the means!_

Aang swallowed hard. What sort of precedent would he be setting if he bullied her into agreeing with him?

 _You have your information! She could just as easily turn you in_ , Kasata continued,  _and all this secrecy would be for nothing._

"Are you here to take me in, my Lord?" Lady Tuan's voice was fearful, but strong.

"The opposite, actually." Aang shushed the voices best he could. He was an airbender, and he was peaceful. He would do a great many things for his people, but this was not one of them.

 _Honey catches more mouseflies than vinegar,_  Yangchen agreed with a hint of pride.

"I wish to...I want to…" It was the first time, apart from talking to Zuko, he'd had to describe his crusade. Aang breathed in deeply, centering himself.

"I am trying to help airbenders escape danger," he said frankly, but spoke quietly and swiftly. "I mean to get them out of cities and towns, away from those who wish to hurt them."

The woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"How do I know you are not trying to goad me into a confession?" she asked with a hint of bitterness.

Aang was not going to bring out his airbending, not again, for it was a kept secret now. Too many people knew, and soon, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. Still, he would rather err on the side of caution while he still could.

"I have nothing, I suppose, other than asking you to look into my eyes and believe that I want to help keep people alive. That I think it's wrong to kill airbenders," Aang said honestly. "And that you can take this information if you so please, take it straight to the Fire Lord. But, I think we share a similar desire to see them helped, to do what it takes," he said. "Believe it because I come to you with no guards flanking me, nothing but my words and a plea."

The woman jumped forward, jerking Aang's eyes up. For a second, her grip on his chin was firm, and she looked at him like she was staring all the way down.

"Your eyes," she said after a moment, voice rough. "They are the same hue as my son's were…"

Aang bit his lip cautiously. Let her believe him another nameless airbender, not the Avatar.

Perhaps, if that's what it took, it would be better.

She drew back. "What do you ask of me?"

"Safe passage. That, if they come through here, you keep them safe or give them food and shelter until they move to their next spot. You clothe them, care for them as though they were your son who died," Aang said.

"You are asking me to defy the Fire Lord. That treason is punishable by death," Lady Tuan said simply.

"I realize."

She crossed her arms, face unreadable, staring Aang down for a few minutes. Aang waited for her, knowing that this was not something he asked of anyone lightly. While he'd be disappointed if she refused, he would understand.

He saw a small smile curl across her face, and that's when he knew.

Aang opened his lips, speaking with a careful annunciation. "Are you a friend of Rodden?"

Despite the phrase itself being spoken for the first time, and unfamiliar at that, the way that Aang spoke it to her, and the fire that lit in her eyes indicated that she understood.

"Aye, I am a friend of Rodden."

XXxxXX

"What's Prince Zuko doing still out in the water?"

Katara gathered her hair into one palm, using the other to draw the water from the tendrils as she glanced at Kilee.

"You know," she said, trying to keep a straight face, "I'm not really sure."

"I'll get him," Sokka announced. "My stomach is rumbling! You hear that?"

"We all can. It's like you've never eaten," Suki laughed.

"Katara! Can you help me?" Ty Lee called, and Katara turned to see Ty Lee struggling to fold down her parasol as the wind battered the fabric.

"Of course," Katara said, bounding up to grasp onto the thick material as Ty Lee did her best to beat it down so she could tie it.

"Need help ladies?"

The same two goons from the previous day suddenly materialized. Like magic. Like they were bloodhounds to ladies in short skirts struggling with something.

"We're fine," Katara said shortly.

"Looks like you're having a bit of trouble," the second one said, but he was eyeing the two girls with a wandering gaze.

"If we were, we wouldn't ask you," Katara said. "We'd probably ask Prince Zuko," she added, batting her eyes.

"He seems a little...distracted," the first one said, glancing out to the sea. "Look, anyway, I'm having a party tonight. You all should come by."

Katara paused, turning to cross her arms. "All of us?" she asked, motioning to the group at large.

"Well, we'd prefer just the girls-" the second boy started, but the first elbowed him hard.

"If that's what it takes to get you to show up," the first said.

"You do know who we are, don't you?" Azula asked, sneaking up on Katara so stealthily that she nearly jumped.

"A caravan of nearly 20 girls and a kid with a scar. You're not exactly inconspicuous."

"Big words there," Katara said dryly.

"Hey!" the second boy snarled. "Don't they teach you manners on whatever ice cube you come from? Don't you know who we are?"

"Are we supposed to?" Azula asked, examining her nail bed.

"We're Chan and Ruan-Jian!" the second one squawked indignantly. Azula looked the pair up and down. Katara saw Azula's gaze linger just a second too long on Chan, and that there was almost something like approval in her eyes.

"Oh, of course," Azula said with faux recognition.

Chan looked directly at Katara.

"Look, some of the most influential Fire Nation families will be there, so maybe if you didn't act so…" He made a weird hand gesture. "Just be normal."

"I'll be on my best behavior," Katara said sweetly, and as soon as they turned, she rolled her eyes.

"This will be fun," Azula said to the girls who had gathered. "I've never been to a real party."

"What if Prince Zuko-"

"My brother has little reason to say no," Azula cut off On Ji. "He can schmooze with some sons of important people, and we can enjoy ourselves. This is what teens and young adults do, or so I've heard," she added, tapping her chin. "For some reason, no one ever really invited me or Zuko to parties…"

"I wonder why," Katara heard someone mumble as they tied their kimonos. By this point, Zuko had exited the water.

"Prince Zuko! We just got invited to a party tonight!" Avizeh gasped, running up and pulling on his arm. "It's going to be so much fun!"

"What?" Zuko looked right at his sister. "Azula-"

"Oh, pish. Live a little, Zuzu," Azula said, grinning and showing her teeth bared. "I think tonight will be smashing."

XXxxXX

"No, no," Arrluck was sighing hard. "From dusk till dawn doesn't literally mean that it starts at dusk."

Zuko glanced over his shoulder to see the Water Tribe boy sitting across from Azula, trying to explain the concept to her.

"It's just an expression," he added at Azula's very dubious face.

"But I overheard him saying they'll be partying from dusk until dawn," Azula argued firmly, using her hands to indicate the two marks of time. "Why would he say that if he did not mean it? The Royal Family is never tardy."

"It's fine to be slightly tardy at parties." Zuko was unsure how Arrluck had somehow been conscripted into explaining this to Azula. Well, better Arrluck than Zuko; Hahn was taking a very long time getting ready doing Agni knows what and Sokka was having a post-dinner snack. "It's normal, even."

Azula leaned forward, smiling. "If you are incorrect, Arrluck, I will come into your room at night and wax your whole body using day old wax. Trust me, it will hurt."

As she stood, Arrluck sent him a 'what the heck' sort of look, to which Zuko only gave a tired shrug. It was per the norm for Azula.

Aang walked through the door right as Azula was going to her room.

"You!" she said, pointing at Aang.

He sent Azula a bewildered look, wordlessly pointing to himself.

"Yes, you. We were invited to a party tonight. We're going," she said, with all of the authority in her voice she could muster.

"I don't think-" Aang begun.

"You are teenager, are you not?" Azula asked.

"Erm, yes," Aang said, but there was a tinge of nervousness in his reply. Zuko stifled a laughter.

'Are you a teenager' was a pretty loaded question, considering that he was sort of 16 and also sort of 116.

"It's what teenagers do. You're going."

Zuko didn't think he'd be able to persuade Azula out of going, and Aang seemed resigned to it. He plopped down next to Zuko on a weirdly lump armchair.

"Did you have a productive day?" Zuko asked.

"Actually," Aang's face brightened. "It was."

He glanced around, realizing that there was only so much that could be said between the pair of them without giving too much away.

Zuko gave a satisfied nod.

Aang took out a tiny slip of parchment. "Maybe going to this party won't be the worst thing," he admitted. "I was given a list of people – teens - that might be...helpful to us," Aang said, sharing the list with Zuko. There were three names on it: Bahuo, Rasra, and Aden. "They were, well, friends with a...a...fallen family member of mine." Aang decided his words carefully, dropping to a scarce whisper.

Zuko wasn't sure if he totally understood Aang's meaning, but he understood enough. He looked at the three names, memorized them. There were no guarantees they'd be at the party, but at least it would give some purpose to this otherwise rather odious night Azula had agreed to.

XXxxXX

The group walked over in a massive hoard. Katara tugged at her dress, unsure if she was underdressed or overdressed. She'd anticipated some fancy dinner, and had the forethought to bring a nicer dress. However, she had little experience with teen parties, and what was the proper dress code for one.

Some girls seemed to be wearing as little as they had on the beach, while other girls were dressed like they were preparing for a big important dinner party. Maybe what mattered was effort; whatever effort meant to everyone individually.

Yue had brought a similar dress to the one Katara was wearing, and this made Katara feel much more settled in her choices.

Chan's house was situated on a cliffside, and by the time they arrived, there was lights flickering on the inside of the house. Azula had muttered something about being late, and Ty Lee had bounded over to her friend, explaining that parties were really more of a 'come and go when you please' sort of thing.

At the door, Azula shouldered her way to the front, rapping three times with the exact same pressure.

Toph grasped Katara's arms.

"You ready for this?" she whispered excitedly.

"Toph, you  _hate_  parties."

"Wrong. I hate balls," Toph said, raising a finger. "Parties though? I can hear it from here: music, dancing, drinks, food,  _sin_. I can't wait," she explained, rubbing her hands together deviously.

Chan answered.

"We are here," Azula said. "It is not in my nature to be so late, I'm usually a perfect party guest, and-"

"Yeah, yeah, come in," Chan said, cutting her off. "So; my dad doesn't know that I'm throwing this party. Don't fuck it up. I don't care if you're the Royal Children, okay?" he said.

Ty Lee inhaled sharply, eyes bugging. Azula just breezed on in, smiling as she did so.

"Usually Zula would have killed him for a comment like that," Ty Lee said to Mai. "I don't…"

"It's obvious," Katara heard Mai say to Ty Lee in a bored tone, "She likes him."

Ty Lee was so shocked that it took until most of the group entered for her to shake herself out of her expression. Katara nudged her elbow, and the pair went inside.

The girls dispersed quickly, like mist evaporating on a sunny day. In every corner that Katara turned toward, it seemed a girl she knew had taken hold, giggling with Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation boys who fawned over them. Sokka had found the food, once again, and was chowing down while telling some over-exaggerated story to a couple of girls. She saw Toph only in brief moments; the first time, she was shoving some dude, though it seemed nothing came of it. The second time, she was dowing shots like there was no tomorrow. The third time, well, she was still taking shots.

Katara hovered unsurely for a little bit, gliding through the throngs of people without any effort to talk to anyone. She was very grateful when Aang joined her in a corner.

"Having fun?" she asked.

Aang scowled, tilting his head. Katara looked behind him to see a whole group of boys making fools of themselves around Ty Lee. Ty Lee was walking a thin line, trying not to be rude, but also trying very hard not to encourage them.

Katara instinctively looked around for Zuko. She found him facing a similar issue with non-Choice girls, but he was managing to elude them a little bit more effectively. Still, girls mooned over him with stupid smiles on their faces. They probably wouldn't ever get this close to the crown prince again.

"Look, we're looking for some people. If you find any of these three people here, come find me or Zuko," Aang murmured quietly, slipping a thin sheet into her hand.

"What is this about? Are they for sure here?" Katara said, clasping her fingers tightly around it.

"Later and no," Aang said shortly. "But it will give you something to do other than just stand around." He offered a thin smile.

"You're one to talk."

"You two need drinks," Azula commanded, pointing at them both. "Agni, you two are so depressing over here. You're being bad guests." She snapped her fingers, and someone was offering the pair a beverage of some sort. Azula seemed pleased and moved on, only because she spotted Chan.

"Oh, Chan! I forgot to tell you before that you're wearing a sharp outfit. If you're not careful, it could puncture a hull of an empire-class Fire Nation battleship, leaving thousands to drown at sea. You know, because it's so sharp." Azula's voice faded as she followed after Chan, but Katara still heard the whole compliment.

Katara snorted so hard it hurt. She pressed the pads of her finger to the glass cup, wondering if it would be rude to pour this out.

"Think she's trying to poison us?" Katara asked, looking hard into the glass.

"She's trying to get me drunk for spirits knows why," Aang said. "Bottoms up?" he said, clinking their glasses. He drank half of it before Katara could argue, wincing. "Start talking to people," he said, sending one last longing look back at Ty Lee before plastering a fake smile and gregariously inserting himself into an ongoing conversation.

Katara shielded herself against a wall to unfurl the slip of paper. She got the impression that she was not to let these names fall into the wrong hands. After memorizing the trio of titles, she stuffed it down her shirt, between her breasts.

No one would be trying to reach there besides herself. Or Zuko, if he was feeling frisky, but she got the feeling he knew about this.

She pushed down her unsureness and social anxiety, smiled warmly at a nice-looking boy and girl, and forced herself to walk over to them.

XXxxXX

Katara didn't talk to her friends for most of the party. She slipped between groups of strangers, putting forth a more talkative and friendly version of herself, one that charmed and amazed easily. She hadn't found any of the names on Aang's list, but the night was still young, and people continued to pour in through the front door.

Most people weren't quite as awful as the two hosts, and were actually nice to talk to. Most were amazed by her Water Tribe heritage, but there had only been one or two people Katara had stopped talking to because of stupid comments.

As she passed by the food table, Ruan-Jian caught sight of her in the mirror he'd been using to fluff his hair.

"Hey there, tiger," he said, coming up next to her.

"If you're not careful, I'll eat you. Better scram," Katara said, trying not to punch him.

"You know, I'd be nicer to me," he said, cornering her.

"How do you figure?"

"Only one of you all is going to win this thing with the Prince," he said, waving a hand around. "And the rest of you will need a man to marry anyway. Not everyone would be willing to handle someone as...difficult as a Southern Water Tribe bird, but I'm open to the challenge. I've heard you're a little rough around the edges; Prince Zuko can't possibly be expected to properly train you with all the other girls he's handling, but I'd fix that easily. Just need a strong hand to lead you, you know? If you're nice to me, I'd consider asking my father to broker an agreement between us."

Katara took a step back, teeth bared, fury twitching her hand. She was a second away from slapping him, but she kept her fingers twitching at her side. She hated him more than she hated Hahn. Hahn was an asshole, but he hadn't tried hitting on Katara in moons, and was more akin to an irritating insect. He certainly hit on  _other_  girls, so it's not as though he was absolved, but he seemed to have a type: girls that could defend themselves as aggressively as he pursued them. She got the feeling Hahn might not actually like a girl who was declawed, where as this fucker seemed like he wanted nothing more than to leave his poor wife defenseless and depend upon him.

Ruan-Jian seemed to be looking for a meek girl, wanted someone to control. She wasn't going to make a scene right now, not when this wasn't her party and others were enjoying themselves. She could deal with an idiot. She'd dealt with worse.

"That's sweet," she said with as much sarcasm as she thought she could get away with. "However, I think I already had some other prospects lined up. I'm sorry."

Ruan-Jian blinked. "Shame. I think we would have had fun together," he said lazily, plucking a rolled finger-food from Katara's plate.

"Maybe," she said. Ruan-Jian sent her one last disappointed look before stalking his next prey. She saw him head for Kilee next. A girl like Kilee might actually enjoy a man like him.

"He thinks he's so great," Zuko growled, his presence shocking Katara. She'd been so focused on not killing Ruan-Jian she hadn't noticed him sneak up. At Katara's lack of a response, mostly just because she hadn't fully processed his first words, he added with a lot of jealousy, crossing his arms, "You liked him, didn't you?"

"I find him abhorrent, but I can't just say that in the middle of his party," Katara hissed angrily. "I'm not looking for a husband! I wasn't even looking for one in the first place," she added, the words falling out of her mouth before she could stop.

Zuko straightened his back. "You hardly let me forget that," he said crisply before turning away.

Katara wanted to scream. What was suddenly bothering him? It's not like she'd been in the corner making out with that idiot, in fact, she'd been trying to shove away his affections as best she could!

Katara snatched her plate off the table, intent on finding a quiet place in the middle of nowhere where she could eat her food and stew.

"Ruan-Jian comes on a little strong," a boy said as Katara passed him, "Sorry."

Katara paused, inhaling. "You shouldn't have to apologize. It's not  _your_  fault."

"I know. Still." He frowned. "It's not polite, and honestly, I don't think his heavy-handed tactics have ever worked."

Katara paused, smiling thinly at him. She felt Zuko's eyes on the back of her head. For Agni's sake, she wasn't discussing a marriage with this guy, she was making polite small talk.

"So, what's it like being in The Prince's Choice?" he asked.

"How do you know I am?"

"You're Katara. I've seen drawings of you in the papers," he said frankly. "Plus, the Southern symbol on your bracelet is a dead giveaway. There's only one Southern girl that's anywhere near Fire Nationers."

Katara absently rubbed the bracelet that Shi had made for Katara with her family's symbol.

"You got me," she said after a beat. "It's exhausting."

This was, entirely, the truth.

"I guess you know my name." Katara extended her hand.

"Rasra."

Kara blinked, her grip on his hand a little lackluster.

"Let me just…" She held up a finger, pulling the sheet from between her breasts. "Ah. Yes."

"Uhm-" Rasra blinked, averting his eyes. Katara grabbed his arm, pulling him through the crowd. "Where are we going?"

"You're meeting the Prince tonight," Katara said.

"Why?"

Katara spotted Zuko sulking near the back. "No idea. If you find out, let me know."

XXxxXX

Aang watched Katara drag some poor soul through the party to Zuko. The only explanation he could think of was that it was a name from the list. He wondered which one it was?

"-those boys won't leave me alone, they all like me too much."

At Ty Lee's voice, Aang switched his attention. He saw Ty Lee rubbing her arms, standing next to Azula. Behind Ty Lee was a whole host of boys who were bickering over which one Ty Lee liked more.

Aang leaned more into the wall, trying not to be obvious that he was eavesdropping. He also tried not to glare at the gathered boys. Ty Lee was a catch; of course other people were taking notice of her.

Azula looked Ty Lee up and down, her expression darkening.

"Come on, Ty Lee, you can't be this ignorant," she said, raising her chin.

Ty Lee frowned, tilting her head, looking back at the boys. When they noticed her looking, they all waved exuberantly and called her name.

"What do you mean?"

Azula leaned in, her razor cut hair falling over her shoulders. "Those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them. You're not a challenge. You're a tease, and they think they're going to get something from you. It's not like they care about you as a person."

Ty Lee gaped for a second, floundering for words. Aang saw tears forming on the edge of her eyes. He thought she might lose it on the floor, in front of everyone. Maybe even a year ago, she would have.

Now, however, Ty Lee managed to pull herself together enough to scowl at Azula. Azula looked surprised she wasn't a blubbering mess on the ground.

"That was mean, Azula. I think you're just jealous. I feel sorry for you," she said simply, turning around.

"Ty, wait," Azula said, realizing her folly a second too late. Ty Lee smacked her hand off.

"Leave me alone. Please."

 _Go to her, Aang,_  Kyoshi whispered quietly.

 _But she wants to be alone,_  Aang frowned, swallowing. Kyoshi replied back immediately.

_From most, true. But not from you._

Even her fanboys had enough sense to give her distance. She walked out onto the patio, leaving Azula halfway between contrite and fuming. Aang watched as she stood motionless for a couple seconds, her face rapidly switching between emotions, before she squared her shoulders.

"They do just want sex," Azula muttered to herself. "Can't help it if Ty Lee is too naive to see that."

As soon as Azula was preoccupied, Aang peeled himself from the wall, with every intent of finding Ty Lee.

She was underneath the porch out back, hiding in the shadows, sitting in the sand. She was sobbing.

 _That's your descendant, Roku!_  Gopan hissed angrily,  _By the spirits, she's a monster! This girl is pure! Like a dove and-_

 _Azula is all Azulon's family,_ Roku replied back tersely,  _I only take claim to Zuko. There is nothing of me in Azula._

 _Poor girl, poor girl,_ Suluk crooned.

"Ty?" Aang asked softly, wondering if he would be told to go away. Maybe he should have just let her be?

"Aang," Ty Lee breathed out softly, her eyes glimmering with wet tears as she lifted her head.

"She's wrong, you know," Aang said before Ty Lee could say something else. "About all of it. You're not a tease, you're not easy. Boys don't just want one thing...I care about you. I could care less about 'getting something' in return and-" He paused when he noticed Ty Lee smiling. "What?"

 _Oh, to be young and stupid once again,_  Suluk sighed. Aang didn't understand.

"I know she was just saying that to hurt me, Kuzon," Ty Lee said, reminding herself of his cover. "I didn't think it was true. I'm crying because I hate how mean Azula can be, how she can have so little care for anyone but herself."

"And you're smiling because…?"

"Because you're you," Ty Lee was still hiccupping, but her sobs were quieting. She lifted her hand as an invitation. Aang sat beside her. "And this is the nicest thing anyone has done for me. I do know that I'm often overlooked. No one cares about Ty Lee."

"You couldn't be more wrong," Aang choked out, horrified she'd think that.

"I'm used to it. Did you ever know I was one of six sisters, all who looked exactly the same as I did? That I ran away to the circus at the age of five, until Azula tracked me back down and invited me to the Palace as her esteemed friend?"

"I knew about the circus." Aang furrowed his brow. "But I had no idea about your family."

"I don't want to talk about it all now, but I'm just very used to being one of a group. Maybe I do try to get noticed, a little too much," she said, looking out at the sea that bashed up against the rocks, a faraway look in her eye.

"You're noticed because you're incredible," Aang said. "And kind. And caring. And funny."

 _Good job, Aang! Most effective!_  Gopan cheered him on. Okay, he was doing something right.

Ty Lee turned. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his. There was a moment, one moment where Aang was sure she was going to kiss him. Instead, she just softly ran her fingers over his cheek, up into his unruly black hair. All at once, the voices were silent. It was as though it was just him and Ty Lee.

"I wish I could," she murmured, and he knew what she was referring to. "But if we were caught-" She bit her lip.

"Treason. Not even a fake relation to the Royal Family would save us, huh?" Aang agreed, knowing full well. Perhaps it was for the best. He imagined if he kissed her even once, he would find it impossible to be near her without wanting to do it again, without wishing they could be open about all of it.

"Yeah," Ty Lee whispered back, ever so softly, so that her answer was carried away on the wind.

Aang was about to stand, but Ty Lee jerked him back down. She motioned to stay silent, pointing above.

Now that Aang tilted his head, he heard a pair of footsteps.

"Is this your first time on Ember Island?"

Aang mouthed 'Chan' to Ty Lee, who nodded. She mouthed back, 'Azula', which Aang wasn't expecting.

"No, I used to come here years ago," Azula said. Aang frowned. He'd never heard Azula sound...so soft.

"It's great if you like sand," Chan said, throwing a pebble off the porch. It clattered near Aang's foot.

"Not a fan?" Azula asked.

"It gets old after a while. Do you ever get tired of the capital?"

Azula scoffed. "Never. It's mine."

"I was born here too, but…" Chan trailed off. "You're really pretty." There was a sound that happened next that Aang didn't recognize, not at first.

"Did she just giggle?" Aang whispered in mild horror. Ty Lee's eyes were as wide as Aang's.

There was a pause, before Azula continued. "I'm going to be honest. I'm not looking for a guy to tell me I'm pretty and bring me flowers, even if the sentiment is appreciated. I have big plans and I need someone to stand by me. Plans that would make lesser men weak at the knees. Are you that man Chan?"

Chan made an audible gulp. "That's, uh, a little intense…" he trailed off uneasily.

"I know what I need. If you aren't that, your loss," Azula said flippantly, confidently, before walking off. Aang counted her steps above them.

"Wait! Princess!" Chan called after her, running after her.

"Well, that was something," Aang said dryly. He wondered if Azula was talking about taking over the throne, the same drone threat she'd been peddling for years on end now?

Ty Lee just smiled, "Let's re-join the party."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the reason that I was a little late to updating was that I got news this weekend that an old high school friend of mine was in an accident this weekend, and while he's alive, he's been paralyzed (as of right now from the neck down). I admittedly am dealing with it way worse than I thought I would. When I'm really upset, I either go two ways with writing; I try to ignore reality by throwing myself into stories, or I feel just to sick and sad to touch them at all. I can't ever really guess how it will be, but I guess this week it went the latter.
> 
> But, he's starting to do better, so I am back to updating and writing and catching my feet, if you will.
> 
> Sorry to bog you all down with that super depressing stuff, but erg, yeah.
> 
> Onto lighter notes, the chapter notes
> 
> * So this one isn't exactly relating to the story, but ya know how I've said (and a lot of you have made the companion as well) that this is basically like The Bachelor or the Bachelorette? Well, one of the guys I went to High School with is on this season of the Bachelorette! And let me tell you why this is WEIRD. My High School only had 800 people total at good years, so we were all very close knit. He was a year above me and I had a huge crush on him, him and my bf were good enough friends that my bf noticed when he strangely deleted his Facebook a couple months ago (they used to also play video games together), and this guy was seriously the NICEST person around. He might not have known me, but he knew my name and would have never been a jerk to anyone. It's just so wild seeing him on TV, like, woah. I've gotten strangely protective over him haha
> 
> * Also! I've been doing a lot of boards/aesthetics to show faces and personality of characters! Head onto my tumblr (youngbloodlex22) to see them! I still need to upload them to the picture album on here, so my tumblr is the best place to see em
> 
> *The one thing I found really strange in the episode of the Beach is that somehow Chan didnt' know they were the Royal Family kids? I mean, maybe Azula and the girls he could have been unsure about, but clearly there was more than general knowledge that Zuko- the royal prince- had a huge burn on his face over his eyes. How many kids do you guess are like that out there? It seems weird Chan didn't realize. Or maybe he's really that dumb.
> 
> *Ty Lee and Azulas talk obvs went a little differently now. I like to think that because of the Avatar group, which like Ty Lee for her own person, she's started to become stronger about her own self worth.
> 
> *lastly, while I LOVE the original Beach Episode and all the catharsis that happens at the end, those particular feelings and reveals aren't quite right for this moment in time...
> 
> Anywho, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> (I'll reply to comments tomorrow...I'm exhausted rn!)

**Author's Note:**

> DUN DUN DUN!  
> Yes, I know, it's pretty vague...but it was more to give you a taste about what is to come ;)
> 
> As I stated at the end of bk1, I won't update for at least two months so I can pre-write a large majority of the story, but I figured you guys should have SOMETHING.
> 
> If you guys want to see the cover in all it's full glory, go to my tumblr 'youngbloodlex22' where I upload art/updates/stuff relating to this story, as well as others!
> 
> I'll see you on the other side,
> 
> Lex :)


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